Spring in Spite of it All

     February of 2015 in southeastern Pennsylvania has been frigid with several cold fronts because of the jet stream coming farther south than usual, dipping night temperatures to single digits or 0 degrees,.  A few snow storms each dumped two to three inches of snow.  This area looks like it is in the grips of winter by the end of February.  But spring's arrival has much to do with the sun "returning" north.  The sun's greater warmth now because of its rays reaching this part of Earth more directly than in December urges spring on.  So in the midst of all that cold weather, several signs of the vernal season pushing to the fore are visible by late February.  I've often said spring is born from the chilly womb of winter. 
     The first indication of spring's coming is the lengthening amount of sunlight each succeeding day since December 21, the winter solstice.  By the end of February here, the sun sets around 6:00 pm, rather than at 4:40 pm in mid-December.  And in February, the sun is "higher" in the sky and noticeably hotter and brighter than in December.  And it rises and sets more to the north each succeeding day.  The landscape in February looks and feels like spring in spite of the cold.  And the increasing amount of daylight per day and the sun's positions in the sky are more reliable indicators of season to plants and animals than the fickle weather is.  Therefore, many early spring activities happened in this area in spite of the cold.  By the end of February, 2015, many plants and animals are indicating subtle signs of spring in southeastern Pennsylvania, as they do every year at some time during that month. 
     Now male mourning doves and northern cardinals are singing to proclaim nesting territories.  And their songs will continue through spring and summer until the nesting season is over. 
     In February, mated pairs of Canada geese and mallard ducks fly about and explore ponds and waterways for sheltering sites where they can hatch goslings and ducklings respectively.  In 2015, they were a couple of weeks late, but were looking for nesting places as they do each year.
     During February every year, great horned owls, red-tailed hawks and bald eagles in this area set on one to three eggs in their large, open nurseries of sticks and grass.  Both parents of each pair of each of these predatory species take turns incubating the eggs and sheltering the young from the cold and predators.  While one parent incubates, the other is hunting prey for the whole family.
     Sometime in February, large flocks of Canada geese, snow geese and tundra swans that want to migrate north to their breeding areas join gatherings of Canada geese that wintered here.  All these waterfowl in their hordes rest on rivers, human-made impoundments and flooded quarries, but fly to harvested corn fields and winter rye fields to shovel up corn kernels still in the fields and pluck the green shoots of the rye.  But, usually, by mid-March, they are on the next lap of their flight north and west to their nesting territories in Canada and Alaska.         
     A few kinds of mammals indicate the vernal season in February.  Male wood chucks that slept through the winter are now abroad looking for mates and food, in that order.  Male skunks are also looking for mates during this month.  One can smell the spray of a skunk that got into trouble, and there is a sudden increase in dead skunks on roads because of the males' traveling to find mates.
     Skunk cabbage hoods, each of which houses a fleshy ball with several tiny flowers on it, snow drops, winter aconites and pussy willows are some of the plants that bloom at some time during February, depending upon the amount of warmth during that month.  This year, of course, they are all late.  Snow drops emerged from the soil by the latter part of the month, but their blooms are only partly developed.  I haven't seen any aconite flowers yet and the fuzzies on the pussy willows are just starting to swell, although by the end of February those furry catkins should be fully developed.
     This is a favorite time of the year for me with all the promises of spring.  Watch for the subtle signs of spring every year, starting the beginning of February.  They are enjoyable and cause for celebration.