Phenology is the study of the annual recurrence of plant and animal phenomena as
brought about by seasonal changes...

In other words, phenology is people noticing and recording what they saw and
heard and when they saw and heard it in a given year. You can keep a phenology
calendar to record things in your area.

Keep checking back for new information every month...

LAST YEAR, IN MARCH, IN NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN, THIS IS
WHAT SOME OF THE PEOPLE RECORDED:

Seeing the first bald eagle.

Seeing the first robin.

Seeing the first chipmunk.

Pussy willows blooming.

Trees tapped for maple syrup.

Skunks emerge from dens.

Red-winged blackbirds.

White-throated sparrows.

Hawks return.

Redpolls at feeder.

Went skiing for the last time that year.

HERE ARE SOME OF GENERAL THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN
NORTHERN WISCONSIN IN MARCH, AS NOTED IN THE 1997
PHENOLOGY CALENDAR OF THE CABLE NATURAL HISTORY
MUSEUM*:

Bald eagles returning and courting, eating mainly winter-killed deer.

Male, red squirrels can be seen chasing females over the snow.

Mars is at opposition to the earth and is visible all night. We pass Mars every 2
years.

March 20 is Vernal Equinox -- The First Day of Spring.

Chipmunks are beginning to come out of hibernation. They ate stored seeds all
winter, but will now also eat mice, eggs, insects and small snakes. They have to
look out for a mob of predators, including most hawks, owls and mammals.

Male red-winged blackbirds return before females. They will be establishing
territories and starting to build nests in cattail marshes in mid-April when females
return.

River otters giving birth in dens near lakes or streams.

*To order your own Cable Natural History Museum 1997 Phenology Calendar
($9.95), see Cable Natural History Museum in the KIDS PAGES introduction or in
the YELLOW PAGES.

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