by Ced Vig - wisconsin woodsmoke

Email a friend  feed   Printer friendly  Comments

Be of good cheer – you’re one day closer to spring. There is a new moon Friday night. World Day of Prayer – Friday.

March Matters

Look for the March winds that promise to bring spring flowers and spring fever. The science may be weak, but the idea endures. Birthstone for March is the aquamarine--a symbol of courage. Flower for the month is the daffodil symbol of good taste. Seven words of wisdom from our native son Tennessee Williams: “Don’t allow the future to scare you.”

Hinckley, Ohio, is celebrating the return of the buzzards. Communities along the Platte River such as Gibson, Neb., are welcoming back the half-million sandhill cranes that stop over each spring to find less water and habitat than the year before. Austin, Tex., is going batty with excitement this time of year as 1.5 million pregnant bats migrate from central Mexico and roost under the Congress Avenue Bridge--talk about a busy maternity ward.

In your yard you are beginning to hear songs that you haven’t all winter. If you listen, birds truly do herald in the spring.

It must be spring. San Juan Capistrano is celebrating the return of the swallows. Capistrano swallows aren’t that predictable. Traditionally the swallows arrive at Capistrano on March 19--the feast day for St. Joseph. It would be nice if they all arrived on the same date. However, according to San Diego’s bird curator, some will arrive before the 19th and others will come later. Commenting on the swallow’s return, Rev. Paul Martin, mission pastor, claims that the return does not have a spiritual link. “It’s a natural phenomenon pure and simple. There’s no miracle to it other than the God-given instinct and patterns of migratory birds.”

March Madness

For Northwoods people “March Madness” spells basketball! For snowshoe hares it’s indicative of their mating season.

I have read that naturalists have witnessed snowshoe hares congregating in late winter to frolic on the last remnants of the snow blanket under the light of the full moon. As many as a dozen of them have been seen cavorting around in a combination of activities that resemble tag and leap frog. It is possible that these games are a runner-up to the late March breeding. When the breeding season begins, male snowshoes engage in bloody battles for the favor of females.

In the skirmishes a male attempts to jump over his rival. While airborne, he kicks down with powerful hind feet which are equipped with razor-sharp claws. A defeated male frequently comes out of the fray a bloody mess. This behavior may give rise to the expression “mad as a March hare.”

But as Emily Dickinson has written, “A little madness in the spring is wholesome even for a king.”

Eagles Returning

Because eagle eggs are laid in Wisconsin before April 10, during the next few weeks the eagles will be repairing their nests and taking time out to engage in a session of courting their mates.

The courtship activities are most interesting. They are best described in the Northwoods Eagle calendar. “Chase displays are common--sometimes one eagle will fly underneath the other, and the birds will grasp talons and roll over in flight, exchanging positions with one another. The most spectacular display (cartwheel) is when the mated pair flies to a great altitude, lock talons together, plummets toward the ground spinning in a series of cartwheels, and then pulls out of the fall just before hitting the ground. If anyone views this display this spring, please call.

Waking Up

Nature’s “seven sleepers” are awakening--bears, jumping mice, chipmunks, raccoons, skunks, bats and woodchucks. Since there is little food for them at this time of spring, many will continue to live on body fat that they stored last summer.

Bird Notes

When differentiating between house finches and purple finches, house finches have brown-streaked breasts.

The redwing blackbirds should be arriving during the next few weeks. The males, garbed with red shoulder patches (epaulets) are the first to arrive. Not all black birds are blackbirds. Redwings, grackles and cowbirds belong to the Blackbird family--so do northern orioles, meadow larks and bobolinks. Crows and starlings are black birds but are not members of the Blackbird family.

In this cold weather many birds sit down on their legs covering them with their fluffed-up feathers. This aids them in conserving heat energy. When perched this way the birds are able to lock feet to the branch securely. The tendon that curls the toes around the branch tightens as the joints bend and loosen as they straighten. As the bird sinks down onto its feet and relaxes its leg muscles, its feet become firmly locked around the branch. That’s also the reason birds do not fall from the perch when they’re sleeping.

Birds lack teeth so they can’t chew their food. So the food is transferred to the gizzard where it is ground up. Many of the birds eat their prey whole. Birds such as owls and hawks regurgitate the indigestible food, such as fur and bones, in the form of pellets.

The females of certain bird species have as much as 50 percent of their food delivered to them--especially during the time when they’re nest building and producing eggs. Male hawks sometimes pass food to their mates in midair. Pigeons and doves “bill and coo.” The male may insert his bill into the female’s and regurgitate partially digested food into it. Often the female bends low and begs for it.

Saw-Whet Owls Arrive In March

You may see a small owl perched in your backyard this month,a saw-whet, Wisconsin’s smallest owl. They migrate to warmer climates in October but return to Wisconsin in March--a great place to raise their families.

Generally you will find saw-whet owls roosting in a red or jack pine--six feet from the ground. From this perch they are available to pounce down on deer mice, voles, shrews and chipmunks. If they capture a junco, they will eat it and leave behind a small pile of feathers.

Bits About Mammals

My nose doesn’t smell. The brain does. A dog’s nose is a million times more sensitive than a human’s.

Of all the animals in the woods, the skunk is the most quiet. Seldom does he utter a sound. The only sound we’ve heard from him is that from stamping his front feet when he encounters an adversary.

According to one of my favorite outdoors writers, Will Barker, “older females mate in February while younger ones mate as late as May. The mating of skunks is a strenuous affair for the males; some males are monogamous, others are polygamous. They all fight among themselves, hiss and growl, and in the general boisterousness of the occasion frequently spray one another.”

Tell us what you think...

Comments »

Doug wrote on Mar 8, 2008 1:39 AM: " Ced, I continue to read your outdoor columns with great interest. Wishing you the best of health in 2008. Thanks for all the years of outdoor information. " The comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rhinelander Daily News.

Post a comment (150 word limit) »

We will not post reader comments containing racial, religious or personal attacks, slander, profanity, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers or Web site addresses that are for personal or promotional gain.

Name: Email: (optional) Comments: Image Verification: (Case sensitive)

Thank you for your comments! Once your comments are approved, they will appear on the site.