March 8, 2026: It's Been a Long Winter

When March comes along we usually see some early signs of spring, but this year, with two feet of snow on the ground, there's not much to see yet.  On a search for promising signs this week, I found mostly remnants from last fall, though these old milkweed plants were pretty on a winter day.

Spent milkweed pods from last summer.

One pod still had seeds in it.

It's interesting how well these stalks hold up through a long winter.  I also found Maleberry bushes with lots of seed pods along the shoreline.

Seed pods on maleberry (Lyonia ligustrina), also known as He-huckleberry.

There were some splashes of bare ground showing on both exposed south-facing slopes and under dense hemlock trees early in the week.

Bare patches of ground under hemlock trees.

These, however, were covered up with snow from this week's nor'easter, but it shows why deer use dense stands of hemlock trees for their winter homes.  The thickly-needled branches catch much of the snow that falls, which subsequently melts before getting to the ground.  This makes travel much easier for heavy bodies on skinny legs with small hooves.  

Meanwhile, the tiniest animals like mice, which have relatively large feet for their body mass, can hop along the top of even light, fluffy snow when they come up to gather birdseed.

While I was poking around in those hemlocks, I discovered another remnant from last year, an old bird nest.

A bird nest in a hemlock tree.

Based on the location and nest construction, I put my money on a Robin's nest.

I found no signs of sugar maples being tapped around the area either, something that's happened as early as mid-February in recent years.  But all wasn't in vain in my first search for spring.  I did find some Red Maple branches that were showing bright red color to usher in the spring season.

And, saving the best for last, the earliest of the spring flowers have sprouted, though these are definitely cheating because they aren't wild, and they were planted under the eaves by a warm foundation.

Snowdrops are emerging as the snowpack recedes.

Still, it's a cheery sight to see, and with 60 degrees in the forecast, they may bloom this week!