Saturday, March 23, 2019

my March 2019 monthly post

eastern bluebirds mating, eastern tiger salamander, Lake Michigan ice thaws, and more.  Happy Winter!

Check out my daily blog for the month of March 2019 (Shoover 2019). Each day shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture, education, ecology, economy, health, and in learning about holistic good, morals, and beyond. I post a photo every day. Enjoy!


My Daily Blog for 2019 March / Shoover: Daily Blog   

        Happy End of Winter.  Now it's spring.  But for much of March, it was winter.  Here in southwest Michigan, we had snow and temperatures went down as far as 5 degrees F (-15 Celsius).  Meanwhile, several signs of the oncoming spring appeared too.  The snow melted away. 
         In March, this last month of winter, I saw many signs of the approaching spring and took photos of some of them. There have been chickadees, nuthatches, and juncos about all winter.  They are quiet on frigid winter days.  For example, Monday, March 4, was bitter cold and silent. No birds moved or made a sound, that day.  The next day, the chickadees, nuthatches, and juncos were active again.   On March 8, the 1-inch of snow  covering the ground vanished in 2 hours.  We haven't seen snow since.  As far as spring birds go, about March 11th, I first heard robins and red-wing blackbirdsWednesday, March 14, was a warm, wet, rainy day, enough so to bring out salamanders.  Todd took some photos of a Eastern Tiger Salamander.  Great photos!  I posted the salamander photos on my blog. Also, on March 14, from inside my house, I could hear a male Cardinal sing all day, outdoors, to declare his territory, despite it being a rainy day. The next day, the weather got cold again.  Lake Michigan kept it's frozen surface throughout much of March. Yet, on Monday, March 18, the birds were active like crazy, like a spring day, although it was only 38 degrees F (3 Celsius).  I watched a pair of nuthatches lovingly talk back and forth with each other in conversation.  The chickadees were in pairs too.  I heard Sandhill Cranes honk high up in the sky, as they are migrating back north.  Eastern Bluebirds have migrated back to Michigan too.  On Tuesday, March 19, in the throes of love, two bluebirds fell from a tree branch to the ground, right in front of me; they mated for a moment and flew off together. The Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) flower buds are opening.  The Sharp-Lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) flower shoots are sprouting up, right next to the sprouts of native Wild Onion / Ramp.   The rains on March 20 and the winds on March 22 broke up the ice, which covered Lake Michigan to the horizon, just a week ago.  Today, March 23, only some small broken bits and pieces (6-inches-long to 3-feet-long) of Lake Michigan ice remains washed up in a continuous linear pile, along the edge of the beach.
         Enjoy the changing of the seasons!