Red River Camps owner Jen Brophy shows a patch of snowpack that lingers in one spot near her sporting camp each May. Brophy believes the patch on the last mile of road takes longer to melt than it used to because there are fewer rain storms in May now. Photo courtesy of Jen Brophy

Signs of spring in nature offer a welcome change, like a happy homecoming. And many who work in Maine’s outdoors have their favorites. Some also have noted how spring events in nature are occurring earlier on the calendar.

Noting the timing of such natural events – called the study of phenology – can be a gauge of climate change. So we found several Maine naturalists who annually make these observations.

Although, it’s worth pointing out that it’s good to notice the timing of natural events in spring just for the sake of spending time in nature.

“Phenology is often linked with climate change, which is really important,” said Joe Horn, co-host of the Maine radio show “The Nature of Phenology.” “But helping people become more observant and more in tune with nature is important, too. The more people are connected to these phenological occurrences, the more the quality of their life improves and their backyard becomes a special place.”

SPRING RUNOFF

Al Cowperthwaite has spent 44 years working for the North Maine Woods, which manages recreation in much of Maine’s working forestland. He’s enjoyed seeing his favorite signs of spring every May when he canoes the St. John River: “Leaves are starting to bud out. Migrating geese and ducks are a common sight. Moose are along the shore catching warm rays of sunshine,” he said.

Cowperthwaite also has noted a marked change along the river in the spring runoff from snowmelt. The spring flow in the St. John now peaks earlier than it did 40 years ago, he said.

North Maine Woods Director Al Cowperthwaite, rear, and Mike McLellan, front, move a picnic table in May 2017  from a spot along the St. John River where high water had moved the table. Photo courtesy of Al Cowperthwaite

“In the late 1970s, the river provided reliable water flow so people could plan a canoe trip anytime between the first of May and mid-June,” Cowperthwaite said. “The spring runoff for the St. John River has moved earlier each year due to climate change. Today reliable canoeing water ends about mid-May, instead of mid-June. This has been a big change for one river just in my lifetime.”

SNOWPACK THAT LINGERS

Jen Brophy, the owner of Red River Camps in Aroostook County, said her single favorite sign of spring is the trillium, the forest plant with various colored petals like maroon, yellow and white. She’s not certain if they are appearing earlier, but Brophy is certain spring is now coming earlier than it once did to northern Maine because of the persistent patches of snowpack that linger in some shaded areas in the forest.

Brophy believes this happens more now because there isn’t as much rainfall in May as there used to be. In fact, when she was growing up at the camp, drought conditions and wells running dry were never a concern. That’s changed, she said.

Indeed, in seven of the last eight years, rainfall totals in Caribou during May have been below the 30-year average (1981-2010) of 3.33 inches. Last May, Caribou got 2.29 inches of rain.

Now on her drive in to open camp each May, there is a stretch of dirt road that hangs onto a patch of deep snow. That never used to be there when she took over running the camp in 2009. But now it persists until mid-May, making it harder for her to get into camp and open it up for fishing season.

“A warm day will only melt snow (in the shade) so much. You need a warm day with a downpour, which we haven’t had as much. There isn’t any rain to knock the snow down,” Brophy said.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

The sight and sounds of the male red-winged blackbird is a favorite sign of spring for Derek Lovitch. AP photo

The first displaying of the male red-winged blackbird “flaring his scarlet epaulets and singing his heart out across a still-frozen marsh,” is the favorite sign of spring for birding guide Derek Lovitch, co-owner of the Freeport Wild Bird Supply.

The contrast in color, Lovitch said, between the bird’s “red, black and a little yellow” and the dull gray and brown of late winter is a welcome reminder of the spring migration to come. And in the last 20 years, he’s noticed a shift in the spring sign.

“I can now expect red-winged blackbirds in the last week of February. This is due to climate change and the fact that this species is wintering further north due to milder and less-snowy winters, allowing this facultative migrant to get here sooner, as soon as conditions allow,” Lovitch said. 

EASTERN GRAY SQUIRREL

An orphaned Eastern gray squirrel baby is cared for at the Center for Wildlife in York in 2020. Center for Wildlife photo

Working at the Center for Wildlife for nearly 20 years, Kristen Lamb has noted many annual signs of spring shifting. But one of the more compelling shifts Lamb has witnessed is the season of baby squirrels. When she came to the center in 2003, baby squirrel season started in April.

The past 10 years, baby-squirrel season at the center has occurred more often in March.

Eastern gray squirrel babies look pudgy and pink, with chunky thighs – Lamb said not unlike a newborn human baby – so people often are inspired to rescue orphans, and follow up on their progress at the center. The timing of this annual effort has shifted.

“Baby season is an exciting time. Babies draw out empathy and compassion, so we get to see the best in humans,” Lamb said. “Our records show we used to brace for that to happen with the peak season in mid-April to the end of May. With the milder winters, baby season has crept up into the first week of March in the past decade.”

AMERICAN WOODCOCK

For Hazel Stark, co-founder of the Maine Outdoors School with Joe Horn, the most exciting sign of spring is the sound of the wood frog, because of the species’ remarkable life cycle.

“They spend the winter frozen solid and their hearts will stop beating. Then when it’s just a little warm from a warm rain – that’s their cue to thaw out and come out and start singing, and move to vernal pools – a sign that really warmer days are coming for real,” Stark said.

However, having only lived in the Downeast region for five years, Stark isn’t certain if wood frogs there are emerging earlier. But one clear change she has noted in that time is the male woodcock’s elaborate mating dance when they “fly up into the sky, 100 feet sometimes, and make this whistling and loop-de-loop as they come back to the ground to attract the females.”

Previously, the American woodcock’s sky dance occurred in April. Lately it’s happened in March.

“They don’t spend time in an area unless they can get at worms. So they’re not going to be around if the ground is frozen solid,” Stark said. “I’ve noticed the woodcock in our area has come back and started the mating sound a bit earlier with the more mild springs.”