Early Spring: The robin chorus gets underway
the far west after sundown. Venus will appear this week, very close to the horizon in Pisces. Find Jupiter and Mars just above the southeastern horizon before dawn.
The Stars: When you go walking in the dark before the Sun comes up to hear the first of the robin chorus, find the Big Dipper in the west, Cepheus (shaped sort of like a house) in the east.
The Shooting Stars:
No major meteor showers occur this week.
Weather Trends: The last or second-last major snowstorm of the first half of the year sometimes strikes the Ohio Valley this week, and the March 9 cold front is often the most dangerous and the coldest high-pressure system in the first two-thirds of March.
The Natural Calendar: Worms cross the sidewalks in the rain. Pussy willows are often completely open, a traditional signal for the end of maple syrup time. Wild violet leaves start to grow as the day’s length approaches eleven and a half hours. Aster leaves appear. Horseradish leaves are usually an inch long this week. Virginia bluebells emerge from the ground. The earliest daffodils come into bloom. Nettle tops are ready to pick for greens. Chickweed and dandelions flower in the woods. Honeysuckle leaves open. Wolf spiders hatch in the sun. Henbit blossoms. Day lily foliage is four inches tall. Buckeye buds are swelling. Raspberry and rose bushes sprout new foliage. Wild onions are getting lanky.
Fish, Game, Livestock and Birds: The full spring robin chorus now begins before sunrise. Male redwinged blackbirds (that arrived about two weeks ago) sing in the swamps as females join them in their nesting areas. Crows pair off and select nesting sites. Purple martins arrive. Winter juncos depart. Peregrine falcons lay their eggs. Bald eagle chicks hatch. White tundra swans land along Lake Erie. The migration period for Canadian Goose peaks. Ducks arrive from the South in their most attractive mating plumage. Fish become more active as the water gradually warms in the sun. With the Moon overhead before dawn, early morning angling may be most successful, especially at the approach of the March 14 cold front.
In the Field and Garden: Graft and repot houseplants. Dig fence post holes while the ground is soft and wet. Put in oats or ryegrass for quick vegetative cover. Seed and fertilize the lawn. Warm-weather crops like tomatoes should be ready to set out on the first of May if you start them under lights this week. Try cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, squash and all delicate herbs or flowers indoors, too. Set out flats of pansies, cabbages, kale, peas, collards and Brussels sprouts as large-flowered crocuses bloom. This is an early date for cherry trees to be in bloom in Washington D.C., and the average week for flower and garden shows throughout the East.
Marketing Notes: Process or purchase night crawlers and redworms for retail markets (and your compost pile).
The Almanack Horoscope: Mild spring temperatures not only contribute to improved moods, they also may help memory. Researchers have observed signs of better memory when the barometer is rising and the Sun is shining in the spring. A study by Matthew C. Keller also suggests that “broadened cognitive style” expands as a person spends more time out of doors in the spring. Unfortunately, sun, a high barometer, and mild weather may not translate to better memory or cognitive ability during other seasons of the year.
JOURNAL
March 9, 2010: At 6:15 this morning, the robin chorus was already underway, the crescent Moon rising, temperature just below freezing. (This is the earliest I’ve heard robins in March.) At daybreak, grackles were clucking in the walnut trees, the sky streaked pink and blue and gold, cardinals and doves singing. Walking downtown, Jeanie and I saw crocus ready to open and the bright globes of new aconites. A little before 9:00, four turkey vultures circled the yard then moved west.
By the middle of the morning, the first yellow snow crocus opened in the east garden. At noon, Greg called with the news he had seen the first groundhog of the year behind his house. He had seen the first chipmunk around the snow two days ago. Then Judy wrote from Goshen, 200 miles northwest of here: “The first redwing blackbird song of the season! Heard this morning about 9:00 a.m.” Poor Will’s Almanack for 2018 is still available. Order yours from Amazon.com, or, for an autographed copy, order from www.poorwillsalmanack. com. You can also purchase Bill Felker’s book of essays, “Home is the Prime Meridian,” and new book,“Daybook for March,” (his 36-year record of daily observations for March) from those websites.