On a sunny, 43-degree late afternoon at the end of winter, I listened for songs of spring.
I took my usual walk through the neighborhood and past a couple of little wetlands, a pond and some brushy areas. One of the first sounds I heard was the “onkalee,” three-syllable raucous call of the red-winged blackbird.
Some say since robins can be found year-round in northern Illinois — although in smaller numbers than summer — the red-winged blackbird is the true harbinger of spring. The males are here now, singing and looking for places to set up their territories. Their chorus will grow in the coming days.
Walking toward a pond, I heard Canada geese flying overhead. They were talking to each other, and I could only surmise they were wondering if they should land in the pond where at least another 12 Canada geese were resting.
The geese in the pond gave a few honks that may have sent the ones in flight away. Their honking calls can mean many things, such as declaring their territory, telling intruders to go away and greeting a mate. You’ll be hearing lots more honking now at the end of winter as Canada geese look for places to nest and are quite vocal about making sure their mate is protected.
For now, though, they seemed to be reveling in the coming of spring. As lakes and ponds thaw out, ducks and geese can take baths in the now unfrozen water. I heard the Canada geese’s wings thumping on the surface of the pond, perhaps a joyous sound, because there was plenty of room to splish and splash in their natural habitat.
Away from the pond and near a wetland, a song sparrow gave its three short notes followed by a higher buzz, and then ending with a few faster notes. Some song sparrows hang around in Illinois in winter, but when you hear one singing from a wet brushy area, you know breeding season is nigh.
In the wooded area of my neighborhood, a northern cardinal sang its “birdy, birdy, birdy” song from high in a tree. Living in northern Illinois year-round, cardinals have started advertising for mates and soon you will see less bickering among male and female at the feeder, and tender courtship feeding rituals instead. This time of year, my feeders become a romantic dining spot for the cardinal, who plucks a sweet morsel and offers it to its mate.
Bird song and behavior hearken to spring, but so, too, do the plants. Walking through my yard and the neighborhood, it appears that plants are still dormant. But looking to the sky, I notice the silver maple trees are in full bloom, with their clusters of tiny reddish flowers adding a complementary hue to the blue sky.
You’ll need binoculars to see this, but the male flowers have red or yellowish green stamens on the end, while the female flowers look like little red balls on the branches. The flowers are small and petal-less, because they don’t need anything but the wind to help pollinate them. Typically, silver maples living close to one another bloom at the same time or within days of one another, so a grove of silver maples can look quite spectacular as winter wanes. They won’t get their leaves until much later, but the flowers tell us this is the time of year when humans start searching for signs of spring outdoors.
Though I like to focus on native plants and animals, it’s easy to get excited this time of year when the first delicate petals of daffodils have pushed their way through the soil. I decided to walk to the mud-luscious yard with my yellow rubber boots to see what else I could find. There were no signs of bloodroot, one of the earliest blooming native wildflowers, but I noticed some yellowish corms just barely peering through dead leaves and sticks, and cannot remember what was growing there.
Of course, we can get more snow, freezing temperatures and ice before winter leaves, but still we have already seen signs of spring, and there’s plenty more to come. Every sign, no matter how small, is a promise, and a reminder to get outside every day to see what’s new in nature.
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Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the baiduhai and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment. Send story ideas and thoughts to [email protected]