Here in West Virginia we have had a very mild winter with only twice having snow accumulate, and never drop to negatives (our house and county anyway). Most of our Daffodils, and Forsythia bushes are blooming, we have some buds on tree’s and bushes starting to swell and open, and a few spring wild flowers are blooming. Robins and many other birds are very active and I saw one bluebird pair checking out a few nest boxes. Hoping to record well my first spring using Inat!
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One of my favorite places, Death Valley, has been flowering decently well already this year, though not a superbloom like other recent years. Haven’t actually been there this year – everything I know comes from iNaturalist!
2020 past month: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2020-02-11&d2=2020-03-11&place_id=4504&subview=grid&iconic_taxa=Plantae&order_by=observed_on
2019 same period: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2019-02-11&d2=2019-03-11&place_id=4504&subview=grid&iconic_taxa=Plantae&order_by=observed_on
2016 same period: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2016-02-11&d2=2016-03-11&place_id=4504&subview=grid&iconic_taxa=Plantae&order_by=observed_on
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In the Rainy River Valley of Northwestern Ontario, we’ve still got 50+ cm of snow on the ground and are a good 3-4 weeks away from real spring weather. For context: we are near the geographic centre of North America, where the tall grass prairie, boreal shield and Great Lakes forest all converge. We’ve had one encouraging sign of spring - the Trumpeter Swans have already returned to the District:
https://inaturalist.ca/observations/39768381
This is a new early date in my records. Migrating Horned Larks are also appearing in the open fields of the west end:
https://inaturalist.ca/observations/39826419
The larks are usually one of the first northbound species seen crossing through the District.
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80 degrees (27 C) and sunny down here in Louisiana. Butterweed (Packera glabella) popping up everywhere, especially wet places. Mississippi River Wakerobin (Trillium foetidissimum) is reaching the end of its flowering phase while Southern Dewberry (Rubus trivialis), Black-Jack (Bidens pilosa), and weedy species are starting to show theirs. Many trees never lost their leaves, but the ones that did are starting to grow them back. Pepper Vine (Ampelopsis arborea) should be coming back soon. Hummingbirds trickling in (been a really bad year for them here) and other spring bird migrations should ramp up in the coming weeks. Fish Crows (Corvus ossifragus) are making their way back and cardinals, mockingbirds, and robins have been singing at obscene hours of the night.
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Every year I await the influx of a large number of redwing blackbirds at a small pond near me in Delaware. Usually, they arrive around the end of Feb. or the beginning of March. They started showing up mid-February this year. I go away in mid-March (to Northern Pennsylvania) for two weeks and when I arrive back, the world is green in Delaware again. This year, the greening and blooming are well underway. So, it seems spring has arrived early here. Just want to add an extra thanks for this discussion of spring and nature. It’s a nice break from all the news of the day.
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In Winnipeg, MB. Canada, it has been a slightly warmer winter (only 1 day below -30 C). It has been up and down, however. During the winter it was warmer than normal for spells, and (like now) it is below normal (low of -15, high of about -10). About average precipitation, and although the snow has been melting a bit, there is still a lot of it around, and the ground is still frozen. No evidence of migrants yet, or insects. The birds that live here all winter seem to be pairing up, but still to cold for most life to be around. The river is still completely frozen (30 cm? of ice).
Edit - here is a 20 year average of our temperatures (and precipitation) from 1981-2010 (Environment Canada) https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=winnipeg&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=3698&dispBack=1
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I’d say one day below -5°C here ;-)
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