In this week's episode, notes from Bill Felker's 40 years of observing what happens in nature.
Bill Felker: Markers in nature for this period include the cracking of a few pussy willow catkins, the falling of the prickly sweet gum seed balls, the appearance on the warmest days of small tan moths, crayfish hunting the swamps when the sun warms the wetlands, juncos beginning to flock in advance of their migration north, and..and crows starting to move up from the south.
Nighttime excursions of skunks and foxes, an increase in opossum activity, the occasional passage of bluebirds, mating of owls, and the disappearance of autumn seeds all offer counterpoint to the subdued winter silence and chill.
And the countdown to spring has already begun. It's just one week until the traditional January thaw time, and Blue Jays give their bell-like mating call. Two weeks remain until cardinals really do start to sing before dawn. And in three weeks, doves join the cardinals and maple sap starts running. In three and a half weeks, the first redwing blackbirds arrive in wetlands along the 40th parallel, and it's just four weeks to the very first snowdrop bloom and the official start of early spring. Only five weeks lie between now and major pussy willow emerging season. And it's just six weeks to crocus season. Seven weeks to the beginning of the morning robin chorus before sunrise. Eight weeks to daffodil time, nine weeks to the major wildflower bloom, and ten weeks until the bright yellow blossoms of forsythia bushes appear.
Well, this is Bill Felker with Poor Will's Almanack. I'll be back again next week with notes for the last week of Deep Winter. In the meantime, start counting. Once you start counting, Winter just disappears.
Bill Felker contributes to newspapers nationwide, including the "Yellow Springs News." Bill resides in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Poor Will's Almanack is brought to you by Tree Care Inc., offering services in arboriculture throughout the region. Trees make life better.
