Be a Citizen Scientist by Watching and Listening for Spring

Do you pay attention to when the Monarch butterflies first arrive in your yard? How about when the first skunk cabbage appear in the nearby wetlands? If so, you’re a phenologist!

What is phenology? It’s the tracking of natural occurrences of plants and animals such as migration and blooming influenced by the seasons. If you like to record nature events like these on your calendar, you’re not alone!

The USA National Phenology Network welcomes citizen scientists like you to submit your observations and data through their Nature’s Notebook program. Anyone can sign up to help grow their database, which is used to inform scientific studies across the country.

Even if you’re not submitting data, be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for these natural events that usually happen in April in our area:
• Ospreys and Purple Martins return after wintering in South America and Brazil
• Several birds start nesting, including Eastern Bluebirds, Black-capped Chickadees, American Robins, and Wood Ducks
• Male woodcocks display at dusk in fields at the edges of woods. Listen for their “peent” calls and watch as they fly 300 feet up and then spiral down from high in the sky to impress female woodcocks
• Spring Peepers are already calling, while American Toads begin their high-pitched trills towards the middle of the month
• Wood Frogs may still be calling too – if you hear what sounds like quacking ducks but don’t see any ducks, you’re probably hearing Wood Frogs!
• Garter Snakes and Painted Turtles come out to bask in the warm sun
• Coyotes and Red Foxes give birth to pups
• Woodchucks (a.k.a. groundhogs) come out of their hibernation burrows to begin feeding on vegetation
• Spring ephemeral flowers such as Dutchman’s Breeches, trout lilies and trilliums bloom in woodlands before the trees leaf out

Learn more about the USA National Phenology Network at usanpn.org. Love the outdoors? Volunteer for the Rehoboth Land Trust and help take care of some of our properties! Sign up at www.rehobothlandtrust.net.