An Uneven Spring

Written 2022-04-04

It has been a while since my last update, so it is past time to get back on track. As winter came to an end, the Upper Midwest seemed locked in a pattern. Though there were occasional hints of spring in the natural world around me, there was a strong uniformity until the very end of February. The winter ended up being the coldest since the '13-'14 winter, as well as the windiest of my lifetime in the Upper Midwest. There were repeated clippers from Canada, and a noticeable dearth of mild days. This made the winter seem especially dreary. All of it was compounded by trying to settle into a new home in the midst of severe conditions.

All of this began to change with the beginning of March. There was a very definite warming trend, and the perpetual snow cover began to melt off slowly, finally finished off by a period in the 50s mid-month. But the first half of March also had a very cold spell, which felt much more like January than a burgeoning springtime. That was compounded by the fact that I went up north to deal with some business at the same time, where the weather was even more boreal. Since then, the march towards spring has been very inconsistent. I woke up this morning to a landscape that looked like something you might see in the Christmas season, with the land covered in new-fallen snow.

This is not out of the ordinary for the Upper Midwest. Seasons are very unstable here, as I have written in the past. The phenomenon of a false spring followed by a relapse into winter conditions is very familiar. But the overall trend cannot be denied: the past month I've seen a very pronounced quickening in the natural world. By relocation to a new spot I've now witnessed things I never had before. The spring migration this year has been unique in my experience. Living not far from a major river valley, I have noticed that it is a corridor for the passage of birds coming back north. This already began weeks ago, around the same time that the first spring songs began to be heard. It has greatly accelerated since then, with different waves passing through.

One of the more remarkable sightings was a Sunday in which repeated waves of sandhill cranes passed through. One of the V's had 70 birds in it. There were several others in the same hour, though not quite as large in size. Since these migratory movements, I have heard sandhill cranes calling at every major natural area that I've gone to. They have occupied flooded areas alongside River valleys, and farm fields which are still abundant in this area. It was not uncommon particularly to see them in my old area, but they are far more numerous here. Sandhill cranes are another species that have increased greatly in numbers since the middle of the last century. Back then, they were a rare sighting for ornithological enthusiasts. To see them in such great numbers would have been unheard of then. I made a similar observation about eagles a while back. I also continue to see them regularly – including a large group flying in formation over a nearby neighborhood in March.

The recent wintry conditions have caused a certain amount of birds to be bottled up in this area prior to moving north. The redpolls and pine siskins of deep winter are long gone, but very large numbers of juncos have remained. Dozens can be seen feeding on the ground every day. Additionally, a group of purple finches moved in, the largest single group of them that I have ever seen in my life. Usually I've not seen more than a couple of pairs at any given time, but this time we had two dozen or so. Goldfinches are starting to show their breeding plumage. And all of the year-round regulars are still visiting: doves, crows, blue Jays, cardinals and so on. However, on the milder days, it is often quite dead at the feeders. Activity picks up sharply in cold, moist and windy conditions.

Other creatures have begun to emerge from hibernation. On a beautiful Saturday in March, just before I left for a trip down the big muddy ( which perhaps I will detail in another post ), I saw my first chipmunk of spring. It has been steadily gathering stores ever since its first appearance. Though sometimes it has to endure the attacks of squirrels. Just yesterday, I saw my first snakes of spring in the nearby restored prairie. The turkeys continue to visit everyday, and they are now battling regularly as mating season heats up. Surprisingly, the deer have not been around as much. Perhaps they have migrated to a different spot for a while. They seem to move around, as do the coyotes who hunt them. I heard them a couple weeks ago but they have been silent since then. The motion triggered light outside has not been on at night, except for when it was visited by a sneaky stray cat in the predawn hour.

As the ice begins to break up on local bodies of water, large numbers of waterfowl are moving through again. Only weeks ago they were iced over, but now on the major rivers the ice is almost completely broken up, as it is on the smaller tributaries. A recent visit to a pool in a major river valley revealed hundreds of migrants. Apart from a large number of Canada geese, Mallards, wood ducks and swans who will stay year-round, there are also many who are just in transit. The large collection included buffleheads, skaup, hooded mergansers, and other individuals I couldn't discern as I did not have my scope or binoculars with me. Yesterday I also saw a V of tundra swans in transit. Whatever the current atmospheric conditions may be, waterfowl have a sixth sense for this kind of thing, and they are decisively moving northward.

It's a spring that has moved in fits and starts thanks to a la Nina cooling pattern in the Pacific. However, it appears that much milder conditions are on the horizon, which the birds' movements would definitely suggest. There are now predictions from the major weather services of temperatures in the 60s and 70s next week. The second half of April may see a mild spell after all. Along with it there will be new stages in the migration. I didn't even have enough space in this entry to detail all that I've seen in the previous weeks. Certain things have still eluded me, such as the winnowing snipe, since there are not extensive marshlands nearby for me to explore. But overall it has been a spring to remember as far as wildlife is concerned. Whatever may be going on in the world of humankind, the local ecology is prospering.