Featured Species:  Black-capped Chickadee 

Now that bird species are beginning to return, you might be tempted to ignore our old friend the Black-capped Chickadee, but that would be a mistake.  Bold and almost ubiquitous across Canada, they can provide hours of entertainment and learning.  Since their name is their call, almost everyone knows it, but there are layers to the typical chick-a-dee-dee.  It’s not only a predator alert – it also indicates urgency and the number of dees communicates the level of threat as well (scroll down).  I only rate two dees (and they just might be saying, “Finally, the guy with the food!”), but a Northern Saw-whet Owl, small, maneuverable, and highly dangerous to chickadees, gets an urgent four (Saw-whet’s are currently migrating and making their way back north).  And this is just one of at least 15 different calls that they make.  Here’s a vocabulary for eight of them.

The little guys also exhibit pack behaviour throughout the fall and winter, swooping in to depredate your feeder for a while, and then gone again, covering 8 to 20 hectares along a pretty established route.  There is a status ranking, and the higher-ranked birds get first dibs. 

Of course, males are now singing their little hearts out, their “Hi, Sweetie’s” competing for female attention as the packs sort themselves out into bird pair breeding territories.  A good set of pipes isn’t the only thing that attracts the ladies. Birds see things in ways we can’t – in ultraviolet. Apparently, male chickadees that shine the brightest are the sexiest!  Pair bonds may persist for several years, but don’t think that means there’s no infidelity. If the male is bested in a song competition, she might step out for a little mating on the side. 

Since chickadees are cavity nesters (scroll down), pairs will soon be digging out holes in dead, rotting trees, using abandoned nest holes, or occupying small nesting boxes.  Eggs will be laid in late April.  And since their diet is 80-90% bugs during nesting season, they will act as backyard pest control agents throughout the summer.

All this can be observed with a little patience and a little luck.  And if a mate is lost, fear not; chickadees have an amazing adaptation for not dwelling on the past, for moving on - they forget…literally. Neurons with old information are replaced!

Other Happenings: 

• Female Red-winged Blackbirds should be coming into the region soon to join the males.  Drab in appearance, she’ll be harder to spot, but should stir things up.
• Watch for pairs of Red-tailed Hawks either soaring or roosting together in trees.
• Mid-month bird arrivals include Wood Ducks, Greater Scaup, Eastern Bluebirds, Song Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Common Grackles.

• Willow stems are turning yellow-green, bronze or red as they prepare to bud (scroll down on the Ontario Trees & Shrubs site to explore native Willow species). Red Osier Dogwood stems are also turning bright red, and really stand out on the landscape.

• Pussy Willow catkins are starting to appear (scroll for photo).  The typical “pussy toe” is an early male catkin, or collection of small flowers.  They will eventually mature and produce yellow pollen, which will be transferred by wind to the  female catkins (individuals of willow species are mostly either male or female – “dioecious”).  While both catkins can look similar (scroll to last photo) when young, female catkins generally get longer than the males , with well-developed, small flowers.  Eventually, the seeds ripen and appear like a cottony mass.  Look for Pussy Willows along stream banks and the margins of wet areas, and follow the process throughout the early Spring.  Many willows produce catkins, but the actual plant bearing the Pussy Willow name is a shrubby willow named Salix discolor.  It is truly pan-Canadian, at least in the southern parts.
• Can’t wait for the full colour of spring any longer? Try bringing clipped tree and shrub twigs inside and into jars of water, “forcing” or “tricking” them into believing its spring. Watching spring unfold up close can provide many learning opportunities. With Silver Maple you get to see the flowers emerge.  Of course there is Forsythia, which is very dramatic. Try experimenting by bringing twigs in at weekly intervals and comparing the results. What are the differences and why?                                                                                                 

  Signs of Spring Nature Detectives get outside and look for the first signs that spring is on its way!

     
• Male Muskrats are truly rambling, ranging over the countryside and attempting to mate with as many females as possible.  Watch out for them along roads.            
• Other mammals mating during March include Striped Skunks, Groundhogs, Eastern Cottontail Rabbits, Snowshoe Hares, and both Northern and Southern Flying Squirrels.         
• Walleye and Northern Pike are clustering near their spawning areas, Walleye in 8-10 m of water near rocky areas exposed to either current or wave action in lakes or rivers, and Northern Pike in lake shallows near beaver lodges, creek mouths and grass beds.                
• The good news is the Monarchs in Mexico are stirring, getting ready to start their Journey North. Get ready to follow their migration and think about how you might protect and encourage Monarchs in the coming seasons.                                                                                                              

• Leo will dominate the evening Spring sky in the southeast to south, taking the place of Orion, who is preparing to drop below the horizon to the west.  Leo actually looks a bit like a lion, with the ‘sickle” to the right forming the lion’s head.  The two stars in the ladle of the Big Dipper closest to the handle can be used as a guide to Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, while the arc of the handle leads you to Arcturus.                                                                         
• To exploit the sun’s light into the evening, we spring forward with daylight savings time on March 9th at 2 AM.                                                                                                                       
• Don’t forget that the Spring Equinox will be here on March 20th at 5:01 AM (EDT). We will then enjoy longer and longer days until June 21st – summer solstice, the longest day in the year.  But are day and night really equal on the Equinox?

• There will be a full lunar eclipse starting just after midnight on the 14th and becoming full at 2:26 AM EDT., while Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter continue to grace the night sky (scroll down).