Articles

Northland Nature: Spring birds at a prairie stopover

Anyone traveling to the south during late March is able to leave winter behind in the Northland and enter into the coming spring.

• Snow geese
• Sandhill cranes
• Snow goose

Northland Nature: Crocuses: our first flowers to bloom

As we exit the month of March, we look forward to the new month of April that will be hosting more happenings of spring. We now have thirteen hours of daylight with sunsets nearing 8 p.m. And the sunrises shed the darkness given by daylight saving time.

Northland Nature: The return of red-winged blackbirds

Each day after March 20, I walk to a nearby swamp and search the trees along the edge and the shrubs in the swamp for a blackbird.

• Red-winged blackbird

Northland Nature: Spring changes at the time of the vernal equinox

We are now at the vernal equinox time, the beginning of spring. And true to the name of equinox, we have an equal amount of daylight and darkness. From now until next September, the hours of light will surpass those of darkness.

• Goldfinches

Northland Nature: Anthills take advantage of March sunlight

Whether we like it or not, by the time we come to this time of March, winter is waning. We will continue to get chilly mornings, and snowfalls of March can be quite substantial, but with longer periods of daylight, the trend is towards warming. We have now reached the return to daylight saving time and soon will be at the vernal equinox, the first day of spring.

• Anthill

Northland Nature: Snow fleas pepper the snow

Tiny insects (less than a tenth of an inch) living in the leaf litter of the forest floor all year, including under the cover of the snow, are now coming to the surface.

• Snow fleas
• Snow fleas

Northland Nature: Grouse gladly make use of newly ample snowpack

The first half of February was colder than normal and saw more than the usual precipitation — two conditions that the Northland has not seen much in the last few years.

• Ruffed grouse
• Snow holes

Northland Nature: Encounters with pileated woodpeckers

During the latter half of February, birds change their activities and though we may have been watching them at the feeders throughout the winter, they start acting differently now.

• Pileated woodpecker
• Wood chips

Northland Nature: Squirrels resort to early meals of maple tree bark

According to the calendar, we have passed midway in our trip through winter. The actual weather during the next coming weeks will often show that winter is still with us.

• Signs of squirrels
• Signs of squirrels

Northland Nature: Owls do more calling on February nights

It is the owls that I find so interesting on February nights. Some years our region will host several species of these predaceous birds from the far north.

• Owl

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Animal Tracks in Snow