Spring Nature Notes
March is a good month to experience the last vestiges of winter and also the time to look for the earliest signs of the spring awakenings that will really explode in April and May.
Winter tracks in the snow and mud: Although there aren't as many animals around during the winter it is much easier to note their activities by following their tracks. Most mammals are nocturnal, so tracks are often the best way to find out what species are present. Deer tracks will be obvious throughout the woodlands, marsh and fields. If you follow their tracks to water you may be able to find muskrat tracks. Muskrats are active throughout the year but since they are almost exclusively aquatic and also quiet, they are not often seen. Your best chance to spot them on land is on a warm late winter day when they are basking in the sun, feeding on cattail roots or new fresh sedge shoots or traveling overland, looking for a less crowded home. Muskrats breed from the first week of April through mid-June and litters are born about a month later. They may have 3 to 4 litters every year. Also look for opssum tracks which wander throughout the conservancy areas. The woods and shrubby wetlands provide dense cover. Opossums are not lovers of our northern climate, so they remain hidden in their log and brush pile homes until hunger spurs them to wander out in search of food.
Much more delicate are the tiny tracks of the mice, shrews and voles that can also be found throughout the woods, fields and marshes. The white footed mouse is more likely to be found in the woods. You may come across a track that runs on top of the snow for a while then disappears so that only the outline of a tunnel under the snow can be seen. Short-tailed shrews often do this. Tunnels and runways through the grassy fields usually means there are meadow voles around.
Winter Birds and Early Spring Arrivals In the open waters supplied by the springs Mallards, Black Ducks and Canada Geese can remain all winter. By late March, Shovelers and Blue-winged Teal will be traveling through. Keep your ears open for the first honks of migrating geese as well as the distinctive trumpeting calls of the high flying migrating Sandhill Cranes. Sandhill Cranes stop at the marsh on their flights back north to their breeding territories. Pairs need large territories to nest, so Pheasant Branch Marsh only supports one or two breeding pairs. Cranes were once rare in the state with only 25 pairs in 1936. Wetland restoration and management programs have brought this majestic bird back to healthy status. Near the marsh, also listen the calls of the Killdeer. Look for them feeding on exposed mudflats.
In the woods many of our feeder birds can be found: Black-capped Chickadees in the trees and bushes, Dark-eyed Juncos on the ground. Juncos spend their winters here and will soon be flying north. Bright red male Northern Cardinals start singing in earnest as soon as the weather starts to warm up. Great Horned Owls can often be heard at night. Their breeding season begins in January and eggs are laid in mid-February. A month later when two or three owlets hatch, both parents are kept busy feeding rabbits and mice at a time when these prey species are plentiful. In the open fields of Belle Fountaine and above the marsh Red-tailed Hawks are also likely to be seen hunting mice. Look and listen for the Downy Woodpecker, which are often heard drumming by striking their bills against hollow trees to announce their territorial boundaries to other woodpeckers. Look also for the larger Red-bellied Woodpeckers, also called "zebra-backs" because of the black and white pattern on their backs. Male Red-winged Blackbirds, one of our most common birds, arrive in late February and early March. Males set up territories and females arrive later in April.
Fish and Turtles As soon as the ice breaks up on Lake Mendota, Northern Pike move up into the marsh to spawn. Northern pike are truly wetland dependent fish, depositing their eggs on mats of marsh vegetation like sedges and marsh grasses. After hatching the young fry attach themselves to marsh vegetation by a sucker on their head. As they mature they stay in the marshy areas until they are flushed downstream by the current or move out in search of food. Turtles, such as the Eastern Painted Turtle, also become active soon after ice-out, watch for them basking on logs in the lowest reaches of the creek. The rare Blanding's Turtle, a threatened species, has been observed in the marsh in the past, but has not been documented since 1988.
Plants of the Wetlands As you walk along the edge of the wetlands, look for the bright reddish twigs of the red-osier dogwood. This common wetland shrub brightens the winter wetland and provides food for many species of wildlife, including white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits and songbirds. Pussy willows and other willows may also begin to put out their fuzzy buds. Although most plants are still dormant, you can see hints of spring. Look for the red flowers at the tops of the silver maples in the woods. Also, some sedges send up green shoots in the fall which become more visible as last year's leaves decompose and new growth starts again. Overwintering sedge shoots are an important food source for those animals that are actively feeding very early in the year. Two species that do this are lake sedge and tussock sedge.Updated February 2006
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