March Nature Happenings

 

• Project FeederWatch continues, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw

• Song Sparrows can be seen feeding on the ground.

• Listen for the following to begin their courtship rituals during the month:  Barred Owls, Screech Owls, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Downy Woodpeckers, Crows, and Bluebirds.

• Wild Turkeys begin gobbling with males strutting and looking for mates.

• Phoebes and Fox Sparrows begin to arrive, along with Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Grackles.

• Look for the Phoebe wagging their tail from prominent, but low branches.

• Male Indigo Buntings begin to appear in the region.

• Woodpeckers are establishing their nesting territories by drumming. Don’t be alarmed if a male begins drumming on your gutters and drain spouts, that is how they attract females.

• Purple Martin scouts return by the middle of the month; be sure to have your houses ready. Do you need another Purple Martin House?  We have them!

• Bluebirds stake out their territory. Be sure to have their houses ready.  Bluebirds become more widespread and begin mating late in month.  Attract them with nesting boxes and mealworms.

• Woodcocks are doing courtship flights. Look for them at Blandy Experimental Farm and Abrams Creek Wetlands Preserve.

• Rusty Blackbirds begin their Northerly migration this month check http://rustyblackbird.org/outreach/migration-blitz/

• March is the peak month for watching migrating waterfowl at Lake Frederick and Abrams Creek Wetlands Preserve.

• Take time to prepare and install boxes for cavity-nesting birds.

• Begin to monitor all nest boxes towards the end of the month.

• On warm nights listen for the early Spring Peepers coming out to serenade you.

• Woodchucks emerge from hibernation.

• Male skunks wander widely, searching for mates.

• Red Maple, Red Bud, Dogwood and Cherry Trees begin to bloom towards the end of the month.

• Roadside 'weeds' (e.g. Speedwell, Purple Deadnettle, and Storks bill) bloom before most native wildflowers.

• Inspect trees for Gypsy Moths and Bag Worms on hardwood and conifer trees. Remove any that you may find.

 

SPECIAL DATES

 

• March 3, World Wildlife Day. Go to https://www.wildlifeday.org/ for more information

• March 8, Daylight Savings Time returns – “Spring” ahead 1 hour.

• March 9, Full “Supermoon”, called the “Worm Moon” by Native Americans, the ground begins to soften, and earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of robins. Early Settlers in New England also called it the “Sap Moon”, as it marks the time when maple sap begins to flow and the annual tapping of maple trees begins.

• March 17, Saint Patrick’s Day.

• March 18, The Potomac Valley Audubon Society will be holding a Wednesday ~ Bird Walk at Cool Springs Preserve, Charles Town. Go to: http://www.potomacaudubon.org/calendar for more information.

• March 19. Going to California?  The Cliff Swallows return to the Mission of Capistrano on St. Joseph’s Day, ending a 6,000-mile migration flight.

• March 19, 11:50 EDT, the sun crosses the equator - vernal equinox, and that means there is the same time of night and day. March 20 will then be the first day of Spring!

• March 21, International Day of Forests.  Go to https://www.un.org/en/events/forestsday  for more information.

• March 22, World Water Day.  Go to https://www.worldwaterday.org  for more information.

• March 24, New Moon.

• March 24, Two Bright Planets! In the early morning look for Mercury in the eastern horizon right before sunrise and immediately after sunset look for Venus in the western horizon.

• March 28, The Northern Shenandoah Valley Audubon Society will begin holding morning Bird Walks Abrams Creek Wetlands Preserve, go to:  http://www.audubon-nsvas.org/EventsNSVAS.html for more information.

 

HISTORICAL DATES

 

• March 1, 1872, Yellowstone National Park established – America’s First National Park.

• March 3, 1849, U.S. Department of Interior established to control our Nation’s internal affairs.

• March 14, 1912, First US Bird Preserve on Pelican Island, Florida.

• March 24, Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound Alaska, killing over 247 Bald Eagles and up to 250,000 shorebirds; also, over 2800 otters, 300 seals, 22 orcas and an unknown amount of salmon, herring and other fish.

• March 28, 1912, the Japanese planted the first of hundreds of Cherry trees along the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.

• March 28, 1963, Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds” premiers making viewers look at birds with very quizzical anxiety.

• March 28, 1979, Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.