Nature Happenings

• March can still be quite cold, with strong cold winds and heavy, wet snow; below zero temperatures can still occur. Many people refer to March as the beginning of “second winter.” When temperatures are consistently below 10 degrees F. birds must eat constantly during daylight hours to conserve enough calories to make it through the long, cold nights. So, keep feeders stocked with foods that are high in fat and energy, especially now as foods that birds cached in the fall have run out and wild foods are still scarce. Feeders are still the most important source of food for resident songbirds. Project FeederWatch continues through the end of April.

• Despite winter conditions in March, “spring” migration kicks off this month, with short-distance migrants like Killdeer and Eastern Meadowlarks returning north, especially after the snow melts. By mid-March Eastern Phoebes return to our area, the first of the songbirds to return to their breeding grounds. Late in the month when maple sap begins to run, Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, our only migratory woodpeckers, return to the area. (See and hear them at Lake Elmo Park Reserve!). Other birds that return during March include common grackles (sigh!) and red-winged blackbirds, whose “Conk-la-Reeee” calls from the marshes are a sure sign of spring.

• While songbird migration is just starting, waterfowl migration peaks in March, including more than 20 species of ducks and geese. Look for them in unfrozen lakes, large rivers, and wetlands. Male wood ducks arrive weeks before females and often hang out in large groups of mallards and geese until their mates arrive. Place wood duck boxes on trees or posts adjacent to water very early in the month to provide them a viable nesting option.

• Meanwhile, some resident birds Like Great Horned Owls and Bald Eagles have already been nesting and during March will be sitting on eggs; some hatchlings may appear by the end of the month. These early nesting birds are joined by Eastern Screech Owls and Barred Owls during March. Check out the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Barred Owl live cam to see barred owls nesting, hatching eggs, and fledging babies from inside the nesting box beginning in March. Stay tuned for word from us when the camera goes live and connect to it here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/barred-owls/

• Mourning doves begin courtship, and the first ones start nesting in March, making those male doves who spent the winter here surviving frostbite to get a jump start on breeding season look pretty smart! Doves may raise as many as three broods of young over spring and summer. Similarly, Eastern Bluebirds that stayed here over the winter may already be nesting by late March. Bluebird nesting boxes should be up, placed in the appropriate habitat, cleaned out and ready for use by the first week of March, at the latest.

• American Woodcocks perform their amazing aerial courtship ritual, known as the “Sky Dance” in late March through early April, the males climbing high into the air and then spiraling down while calling “peent” to impress a prospective mate. Look for them at dawn or dusk in open fields or clearings surrounded by woods. In our area, woodcock sky dances regularly occur in places like Carpenter Nature Center and several of our Washington County Parks. The courtship period can last for several weeks.

• Great Blue Herons start returning to Minnesota at the very end of March; their tracks can often be seen in the snow around streams and lakes where they hunt for food. They are consummate ice fishers able to find and catch fish through holes in lake ice. By mid-April, they are already busy building and rebuilding their nests. Visit one of the largest and busiest heron rookeries on the Mississippi River at Marshall Terrace Park in Minneapolis to see thousands of herons building nests, jostling rivals, and flirting with prospective mates.

• The season’s first Common Loons and Sandhill Cranes can be seen returning to our area at the end of March or early April. The first warm southwest winds will often bring turkey vultures into our area.

• American Goldfinches, many of whom stayed here all winter concealed in their drab winter colors, the males now begin slowly molting into their brilliant gold plumage. Females take on a brighter version of their winter plumage, but with brighter gold accents. In the process they lose more than a thousand extra feathers they added during fall molt to help survive the cold of winter. Spring molting for goldfinches continues through June.