WHAT IS SPRING?

     Since spring is coming slowly to my world I thought of the question "What is Spring?"

     Spring is different where ever you may happen to be. If you are far south spring may not be very noticeable. The temperature doesn't change much. Leaves and grass are green all year. If you are where I live spring comes slowly over a long period of time. Warming is gradual with back slides to cold winter temperatures. We have to get well into spring before much plant activity takes place. Today, several plants right beside my house are showing green shoots. Some trees are in bud but it will be a long time before we see trees leafing out. The ice went out of the river last week but all the ponds and lakes are still covered with very solid ice.

     Then there's the Arctic spring. I've been through five of those. The light is bright...very bright. But there's no warmth in it. In late April there is some melting snow but it is in May that the snow disappears and the huge rivers lose their ice. It's a funny thing that the Canada geese arrive the end of April and sit on the ice of lakes. It's 3 or 4 weeks before they can begin nesting.

     Now for some people spring is the return of birds or just one species. For other people it may be the awakening of plants. I like to go out in the woods when the sap goes up and you have the invigorating odor of the trees coming to life. For some people it's when rabbits and weasels turn brown.

      Tomorrow morning the sun rises at 6:49 AM. I like to see mornings come earlier and earlier. Then I like to see the evenings get longer.

      So we have a whole lot of nice things happening for spring and then wham! Things suddenly turn to winter. Later on this week I have a three day forecast of snow. 

      No matter what I like spring. It's a general move to warmth.

     So what is spring for you? Do you have a barely noticeable spring or a long period of moderation? What particular part of spring do you like best?

    Now I must apologize as I posted this when I was only half finished the post.

     Mar. 24 2016. A late spring storm.

    

SPRING VARIATIONS

      Spring is a time of many variations that pull us up and down. There are nice times when our spirits soar and there wild times when we are saddened once again . We are looking for spring...actually summer. We are hoping. Setbacks drive us to nuts.

      So today our weather was very dull. We had heavy dark clouds but no rain or snow. Our temperature was around  5 C(40 F) all day. It was windy and looked very unpleasant. When I went out it felt much better than it looked.

     A few days ago we had clear skies and 10 C  (50 F). People brought out the shorts.

     So spring brings a wide variation in our daily weather. A cold front is coming in tonight and we may get some drizzle and snow.

     The snow has disappeared except for the dirty remains of snow banks that are in shaded areas.

     The grass is brown but if you look in sunny locations you can find some new grass shoots. Our grass slowly loses its color over the winter and in the spring is brown. It takes a while for things to turn green. I have bluebells along the east side of my house. Since bluebells are early they are about 2 -3 Cm (1 in) tall.

    Most days we have new birds that arrive from the south. We've seen Blue birds, Trumpeter swans, gulls and a few ducks. From now on there will be a steady stream of arrivals. I took my bird group out yesterday morning to  small area and we found 13 species of birds.

    I'm also running a little project called Bird Species 150 which to find 150 bird species  to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. So bird reports are coming in steadily Check RDRN.ca and see what species have been reported.

   And my bunny had a snooze in my back yard today and he/she is starting to turn brown. Richardson ground squirrels have come out of hibernation. The old males come out first and later on the young males and females. The old males return to hibernation in July again.

     So slowly but surely spring is coming to Hiawatha House.

     I've had some new visitors recently and some made comments. Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House and thanks for the comments. Maybe we'll have a conversation.
 

Loosey Goosey

     I got out of the house for a while yesterday afternoon and visited a local watering hole for geese. The ponds in the photos were actually reclaimed gravel pits. Now they make a fairly good wetlands habitat. 

     The geese were quite willing to hang around and pose .

    That's right. These geese are sitting out on the ice. They've been here about three weeks. There is open water about 200 m away on the river where they can feed. Many of these geese will continue north until they land on Arctic islands where they will finally nest.

     There were some smaller geese further out which I think are another form of Canada geese. They have different markings.

      So the ice is very solid and nothing has melted around the edge. I could still skate on this ice.

      This large pond is the reclaimed gravel pit. Islands and points have been constructed to give some variety to the pond. a pair of loons spends each summer here.

The Beauty of Tundra Swans in Migration

        On March 27 and 28 I was treated to the awesome beauty of tundra swans (cygnus columbianus) flying over my district. The  mornings were both dark gray overcast so the brilliant white of the birds was sparkling as they flew towards the north. The striking color is just as noticeable under a clear blue sky as well.

        Tundra swans pass through Alberta in late March or early April  to their nesting grounds on the Arctic coast. They will rest and feed here for a short time, but keep on pressing north always landing on frozen over lakes and ponds. This is the condition they find on the Arctic coast when they begin nesting. The whole reproduction cycle is successful by a mere number of days. Egg incubation, maturation of young until they develop their flight feathers leaves very little room for error. The young must begin fall migration with very little flight experience.

      Tundra swans can be hard to distinguish from trumpeter swans(cygnus buccinator). Trumpeter swans are larger than tundra swans and nest in northern Alberta. The tundra swan has a small amount of yellow on the bill. It is difficult to tell the difference between  the species out in the field. Their voices are also different, but again you have to be experienced to recognize them.

      So once again I have the exciting experience to see tundra swans in migration. Just so trumpeter swans and you don't think I'm biased, I also enjoy the larger trumpeter swan as well. The trumpeter's will hang around on local ponds for a while so they can be observed at a more leisurely pace.

Canada Geese:Joys of Spring

       For the last two days flocks of Canada geese have been flying over on the way north. After a long winter it is quite shocking to be out and suddenly hear a strange sound...Canada geese honking. It's quite surprising to hear the honking and then watch as a number of geese fly over. There will sometimes be a flock or two every hour and it tapers off by noon.

      The geese flying in at this time probably do not stay here. They may take a short rest for a day or two and feed , but they will 



photo Bill Heinsen

usually continue north. They will land on ice covered lakes and wait for the ice to thaw and then set up nests. When I lived in Inuvik the aboriginal people would goose hunt in the spring. Husky lakes were a well known hunting area. The geese responded to decoys and the hunters would camoflage themselves in white. This hunt was always quite successful.

      So with the coming of geese other species should not be far behind. Today I heard a crow so tomorrow we will probably have many crows.