Beautiful signs that spring has sprung!!!
The slight chill in the air this morning was the only hint that winter is trying to hang on. The temperatures quickly rose into the 70's today warming the sleepy earth. How can you tell that spring has arrived though. Watch wildlife. Nature knows best!!! This is 10 signs that spring has sprung and in no particular order of course.
1) Hickory shad are beginning to make their way up therivers of North Carolina to their traditional spawning grounds. Tthey fight hard and strike readily. Shad are known for their more impressive acrobatics as they put on quite a show of protest at being reeled in.
2) The refulgent tom turkey is strutting with his tail fanned and gobbling in an effort in an effor to call the hens to his harem. It is also a dance of dominance over the rest of the toms. Thanks to the biologists and their program to save the turkey that began in the 1970's we are still able to see the magnificent display and courtship.
3) My favorite sign is the arrival of the American robins. All though a few are still around they are not seen as often during the winter. When the early spring arrives so do these familiar brown birds with their orange chests. They gather in huge flocks in gardens, parks, yards, pastures, shrub lands and fields. They spend the days tugging the newly warmed earthworms from a drab ground which is beginning to be paint the even slight shade of spring grass green.
4) Those big, fat, nocturnal, American toads begin emerging nightly from their underground homes. Watch and you can spot them under street lamps and other outdoor lights as they hungrily and quietly wait for dinner to come creeping up as they are drawn to the light. The long,high-pitched, musical trill of the male sounds slightly like a chorus of crickets, can now be heard around the awakening woodland ponds, puddles, permanent ponds and shallow backwaters of rivers as he serenades the ladies trying to lure them to his underwater lover lair.
5) The majestic Red-tailed hawks begin the high pitched calling. They fly in circles in the vast blue skies of the Carolinas. Maybe you’ll witness their courtship dance, where they dive and roll in the sky, eventually locking their talons and falling together before splitting apart.
6) Brightly colored, amazingly tiny and super speedy the ruby-throated hummingbirds begin their return. Like most birds, ruby-throated hummingbirds have good color vision. They prefer red and orange tubular flowers, they’ll readily feed at any colored feeder filled with sugar water (1 part sugar to 4 parts water, if you’re making your own, no red food color necessary).
7)The large rat snake emerges from its den to bask in the warm sunshine of early spring. He disappears as stealthily as it appeared when the sun goes down. This tree-climber is one of the most common non-venomous snakes encountered in North Carolina. It is often called the chicken snake, for its penchant to visit hen houses searching for supper. They eat rodents and birds as a major part of their diets.
8) Wood ducks have been nesting since February and soon ducklings will emerge from their nests. They are considered the most beautiful waterfowl in North America. They depend on large, mature trees for natural nesting cavities. They nest over water or land from 6 to 55 feet from the ground. Ducklings will land uninjured after fallng large distances to the ground and immediately follow their mother to the nearest cover.
9) The tiny little honey bees are now dancing on the sleepy heads of the first brilliant blooms of the season. The warm sun and the bright colors wake them from their deep winter sleep. They hungrily begin gathering the nectar so they can make hives of fresh, sweet, golden honey.
10) The dull drab grays and browns of winter sleep slowly begin coming to life as the trees and flowers begin open blooms and tiny sprigs of green. The smell of the air is starting to change with the new fragrances of springs awakening.
I have excitedly waited for winters grip to slip away. For the new warmth of the awakening world. For days spent outside barefooted as I did as a child growing up. Welcome home spring!!!!!!
