Exploring the first signs of spring can be an exciting activity that helps children connect with nature. Additionally, it may inspire outdoor adventures like bluebell walks or wildflower hunts!
Watch for daffodils and primrose blooming across woodlands, parks and roadside verges beginning early March; or listen out for drumming woodpeckers as they mark their territories and try to attract mates.
Spring Peepers
Spring peepers’ nighttime chorus signals the end of winter, signaling its passing. You can often hear their call throughout spring in wooded areas near ponds and swamps across North America’s central and eastern regions; often mistaken for the sound of sleigh bells, this amphibian’s music makes an attractive accompaniment for any forest or wetland habitat.
Male spring peepers produce a short, high-pitched call lasting just a tenth of a second that they repeat to attract females and establish their territory, as well as use it during mating season and when feeling threatened – these calls can often be heard for miles away! The sound is very distinctive and easily detectable.
The spring peeper derives its name from its loud, sleigh bell-like calls that signal spring’s arrival. These vocal sacs resemble balloons and can amplify up to 20 times their own volume; additionally they produce short calls which sound similar to peeping or chirping as means of communicating between members of their chorus as well as with potential predators.
These tiny frogs may be hard to spot. Their backs feature light tan to olive-colored stripes forming an X, while their feet and toes sport sticky pads that help them move around on forest floors with ease. Although only about an inch and a half long, their bodies contain many muscles for climbing through leaves and debris on forest floors.
Spring Peepers differ from most amphibians by not breeding during summer and fall months, but rather early spring when temperatures warm. Instead of depositing their eggs all at once like other frogs do, spring Peepers release single eggs at a time which hatch into tadpoles within four days!
Spring peepers hibernate throughout Maine’s cold climate in logs, leaves piles or loose bark on trees. Their ability to withstand frosts is an invaluable adaptation that helps them survive Maine’s harsh climate.
Skunks
As soon as ice and snow start melting and days lengthen, woodland life comes back into bloom. Wildflowers blooming and tree buds unfurling are sights we may witness during this period; one such exciting sight could be an exotic-looking flower called Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). Skunk cabbage is one of the first springtime blooming flowers; its strange-looking mottled maroon spathe covers an intriguing knob-like structure which contains petal-less blooms; its remarkable evolutionary trait allows it to produce heat at its source which allows pollinators access.
This odd plant serves as an early sign of spring, often appearing along swampy trails and other wet places where soil has thawed in early April. Additionally, it can often be seen among other woodland wildflowers such as hepatica and trout lily in early April. Best grown in wet areas with rich, fertile soils where its native habitat lies across much of Eastern United States and parts of Canada.
Skunk cabbage’s full bloom season typically occurs in April, although it has been known to appear earlier. Although difficult to locate, it is well worth the search – its flowers add beauty, exoticism, and fragrance to any woodland walk – however its stench resembles that of a skunk’s spray, while its leaves contain calcium oxalate crystals which could irritate mouth, throat, and esophagus if eaten.
Skunk cabbage is an engaging, educational, and edible wildflower to search out in nature. However, it should be remembered that its blooms will quickly wither once surrounding trees shade its sunlit habitat from below. To help students grasp this concept better, have them consider other examples of “fleeting” elements found within nature such as other flowers, stages of metamorphosis or even phases of the moon as examples of “permanence.”
Birds
No matter if you’re strolling through a park, garden, or local green space this month to mark the start of spring, there will be plenty of signs to see that spring has officially arrived. Birds are tweeting again; robins and blackbirds have returned; flower buds are beginning to form; you may even spot one or more yellow daffodils blooming between late February and early April — they provide one of the first sure signs that spring has truly arrived – their vibrant yellow colors signaling they provide high nutritional value containing galantine that aids treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Frogs and toads have also begun making an appearance, as frogspawn emerges in ponds freed of ice – it’s an impressive sign that another season has officially arrived!
Red-winged blackbird males begin their annual breeding rituals this spring in cattail marshes, wet fields and other wet locations in order to attract females for breeding purposes. If you’re lucky, you might hear their loud, distinctive songs.
By mid-March, certain deciduous trees begin their annual display of blossoming. Cherry, apple and hawthorn trees are among those which start blooming first each year – their delicate blooms and fragrant aromas serving as an early sign of warmer temperatures for plants, insects, wildlife and people alike. Their blossoms provide shelter and food sources for birds, bees and other pollinators while simultaneously revitalizing woodlands and grasslands.
As days get longer and warmer, forests come alive again. Look out for trees like maples, birches, beechs and oaks with brightly-colored buds as they prepare to open, as well as for blooming deciduous shrubs like hawthorn, guelder rose and dogwood shrubs which show signs of budding as the first fruits of year emerge, providing nutritious snacks to pollinators such as bees as well as drawing in animals like voles and badgers. Maple syrup tapping typically begins around mid February/March as another great way of celebrating this new season and seasonally!
Plants
As days become longer and temperatures warm up, plants and flowers begin to emerge from their winter rest. One of the first telltale signs of spring can be tiny wildflower buds with vivid petals signalling that warmer weather is approaching – look out for bundles of lesser celandine (Crinum nivalum) on woodland and hedgerow floors or bright yellow heads of daffodils (Narcissus daffodilus) in gardens or parks!
Check deciduous woodlands and hedgerows regularly for short-lived flowering ephemerals such as bluebells (Bluebellea myrtiflora), ramsons (Rumex aquifolium) and wood anemones (Anemone nemorosa). You might also spot some dandelion flowers (Dandelion nigricans).
Bud break of trees and shrubs is another iconic sign of spring, creating fresh green dashes of colour on their bark. Alder shrubs (Alnus glutinosa) in wetlands and woodland edges often bloom first with long male catkins shedding pollen to fertilise later appearing female catkins – providing another distinguishable feature of spring!
An early spring walk through woodlands can reveal some of the first signs of spring. Delicate snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) usually make their debut between January and March in the UK, peaking just before Vernal Equinox on March 21.
Blooming trees and flowers is always a joyous sight, especially red-osier dogwoods (Cercis canadensis), rowan blossoms and wild cherry blossoms that first emerge. Hawthorn (Crowberry) blossoms can also make an amazing display as their pink and white blooms quickly appear before soon dissipating once bloomed.
With flowers in bloom, bees return to buzzing. Be on the lookout for queen bumblebees collecting nectar to feed their new colonies, as well as mining bees emerging from underground cells to begin their hard year of work.