Naturally
Chipmunks scurried about as if they had misplaced their lists of things to do today. Perhaps their behavior was a result of the time and place creating a birder’s paradise, as that combination does every day of the year.
I stared at each bird as if it were a rare bird, because each bird is.
Woodpeckers drummed. They banged out love notes in Morse code or a woodpecker code on resonant limbs. Wild strawberry leaves were lovely to see. The leaves stay green over the winter.
I poured water into a small basin for the birds. Does that make it a beaker?
Winter is over. Meteorological winter is December, January and February. Meteorological spring is March, April and June. Welcome to spring. Astronomical spring begins later. The spring equinox (also called the vernal equinox) marks one of the two instances each year when our sun and the Earth's equator align. The spring equinox falls on March 20 or 21 (and occasionally on March 19 in a leap year). In 2025, the day is Thursday, March 20. That means we get two springs. Yay us. Life is good.
Robins are singing, and red-winged blackbirds are flocking together, which is a wing-wing situation and a win–win situation. Red-winged blackbird males return before the females show up here. They hurry back to compete for choice territories. They must be aware to survive, so they travel in flocks, which offer more eyes to spot predators and food. Their arrival is a harbinger of spring. Arguably, the red-winged blackbird could be the most commonly seen bird in the Gopher State. The females, with streaky brown plumages, don’t need to rush as they know there will be males to welcome their triumphant arrival. The males sing “Look-at-me” at full throttle.
I keep an ear out and hear sandhill cranes give voice to the call that stirs the soul. Aldo Leopold wrote this about that sound, “High horns, low horns, silence and finally a pandemonium of trumpets, rattles, croaks and cries that almost shakes the bog with its nearness.”
Male goldfinches begin molting from their muted, drab plumage into their vibrant mating colors in mid-March. Keep an eye on that state bird of Iowa, and you’ll see some splotchy feathers on goldfinches during the in-between stages of a molt.
Canada geese pairs, on territory, honk belligerently at perceived intruders. They’re like callers to sports talk shows—always yelling angrily about something. Smile when you hear one, and be thankful for all that free fertilizer you’re getting.
Pussy willows are budding. This native willow grows 8 to 15 feet tall and thrives in wet areas. They're an important food source for early-spring pollinators, including several bee species. The plant is host to the viceroy butterfly, whose caterpillar feeds on it.
Squirrel and rabbit chases take place as part of the courting process. Gray squirrels mate twice a year, typically from December to February and June through August. Fox squirrels mate twice a year, generally from December to February and June through July. The eastern cottontail rabbit breeding season runs from March to September.
For most of Minnesota, December is typically the snowiest month of the year. January is second, February third and March is the fourth snowiest month, but you never know.
Q&A
“What do robins eat at this time of year?” There is fruit available. They eat crabapples, mountain ash berries, haws from hawthorns, winterberries, rose hips and hackberries, among other things. They likely become adventurous eaters when they first return. This species (American robin) was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 as Turdus migratorius, which derives from two Latin words: turdus, "thrush," and migratorius, "to migrate." The name robin has been used in North America since at least 1703.
“When is the breeding season for opossums?” Opossums mate between January and May. The young aren’t fully developed at birth. The babies climb up the mother's belly and into her pouch. They remain there for 60 to 70 days. For a month after that, the young opossums climb in and out of the pouch, never straying far. When mouse-sized, they climb aboard their mother's back, where they spend their time until becoming independent.
“What bird calls “Ricky”?” I don’t know if I know of one. I’d guess it might be a cardinal. Many ears hear it as “Birdie, birdie, birdie” and it wouldn’t be a stretch for it to be heard as “Ricky, Ricky, Ricky.” The ruby-crowned kinglet is often called “Little Ricky,” not because of its call, but because its four-letter bird banding code is RCKI.
Thanks for stopping by
“A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.”—Albert Einstein.
“If you want light to come into your life, you need to stand where it is shining.”—Guy Finley.
Do good.
©Al Batt 2025
I love March, when the trees turn into red-winged blackbirds. Harbingers of spring, the redwings are among the earliest spring migrants, with the males arriving before the females to establish territories and engage in courtship displays. The males sing rowdy “Look-at-me” territorial songs and display their brilliant red epaulets to attract females. Photo by Al Batt.