Journals Reflect March's Volatile Nature Even though deep snow blankets the ground now, it's possible that some hepaticas will bloom before the end of March The first day of spring this year will fall on March 20, that intriguing time when the sun is directly over the equator and all parts of the earth receive 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness – the Vernal Equinox. Today as I write this, February 28, the temperature is above freezing bringing about some icy cold puddles of melted snow along the edge of our driveway, perfect "bathtubs" for the tree sparrows and juncos who are merrily splashing away. Judging by the large number of people who head for the South or Southwest each March, which we have experienced a few times ourselves, they obviously are anxious to get away from something that does not meet their fancy. Muddy driveways may be one of them, but there are also plenty of new happenings and arrivals that help make the month very interesting in the North. Checking over my last nine years of phenological records of natural occurrences and arrivals, here are only a few of the things we can expect this March: eastern phoebe, song sparrow, sandhill crane, ring-billed gull, eastern bluebird, hooded merganser, tundra swan, brown creeper, robin, red-winged blackbird and woodcock. Pussy willows surely will decorate many wet roadsides and swamps well before the end of the month, but there have been a few extremely mild Marches in the past when we also recorded hepaticas and trailing arbutus wildflowers in bloom. Just to show you how fickle this month can be, here are some of the March 15 entries in my nature journal. 1995 – we had already left for Kearny, Nebraska to witness the sandhill crane extravaganza along the Platte River. The temperature there on the 14th, when we were already in our observation blind an hour before sunrise, was a pleasant 41 degrees F. Our guide told us that at least 20,000 sandhill cranes had spent the night right outside the blind and we were there to witness their pre-dawn chorus and awakening – awesome! 1996 – we had left a few days ago to visit Charlotte’s parents in Phoenix, Arizona where we enjoyed shirtsleeve comfort on our many walks and hikes. 1997 – We were literally buried beneath drifting snow, at least 10 inches with another four to six being predicted. It was 4 degrees above zero F. and very windy on the 15th, the wind-chill factor at 20 degrees below zero F., a brutal winter day – good time to be in the South. 1998 – We awoke to a sunny dawn and 4 degrees above zero. It snowed yesterday, the 14th. The bald eagles are already re-claiming their old nesting site today at the Point. 1999 – It was calm today and the temperature got up to 30 degrees F. The varied thrush was still in our yard, its 83rd day, one of the most exciting winter resident birds we’ve ever had in our lives. Tonight there were a few cold-weather moths fluttering at our kitchen windows after dark, as though they wanted to come in to warm up. 2000 – It got up to a balmy 46 degrees F. yesterday, the 14th. It was mild on the 15th and the good news was that the bluebirds have returned to our field. A pair of American kestrels was also seen near their nest box on the south end of our property where they have nested for the past several years. 2001 – The temperature at dawn was 28 degrees F. A high of 36 was reached this day and the snow is melting fast. However, looking back to 1997, we are not putting our snow shovels away yet. In fact we usually keep them out until May 1! 2002 – The temperature on the 13th was slightly above freezing as we left early for Florida. One of the highlights of our trip was to visit Callaway Gardens in western Georgia and to see, among perhaps the world’s best display of azaleas, the exceptionally wonderful Cecil B. Day Butterfly House, one of the world's finest. I was able to take many good colored slides of butterflies, some extreme close-ups, which were added to our program, "Eye To Eye with the Butterfly." What a shock we received upon our return to Door County from Florida. It was snowing as we turned into our driveway at 1 p.m. on the 28th of March! 2003 – Callaway Gardens in Georgia, and our friends in Florida lured us back for another short vacation in the South. The day before we left, the 8th of March, a light snow was falling at 7 a.m. and the temperature was 18 degrees F. By late afternoon there was 5 inches to be plowed off the driveway – a mess. Plenty of dark-eyed juncos and tree sparrows were still coming to our feeders that would be cared for by our friend while we were gone. By the time we returned home on the 25th of March nearly all of the snow had melted and the first chipmunk of the season was seen on the seed-laden ground beneath the bird feeders. By the next morning, the 26th, the temperature was down to 30 degrees F. and it was back to wearing long johns! March last year ended with the temperature at 20 degrees F. at dawn. Two more inches of wet snow fell that day. Believe me, there were no hepaticas in bloom in our woods before the end of the month that year. The magical word of the month for me is SPRING! Longfellow once wrote: "If spring came but once in a century, instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake, and not in silence, what a wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change." This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 03/04/2004. © Copyright 2004 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.