It’s Spring!
Mini Fact: Flowers can bloom from roots, buds, seeds or bulbs.
Have you been feeling extra perky lately? Nature is waking up. Animals, including people, are kicking up their heels. The weather is changing. It’s spring!
Weather heats up
• Days get longer.
• Temperatures warm up.
• Extra light, warmth and moisture get plants growing.
• Warm spring air mixing with colder winter air can mean troubled skies. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air. Unstable moist air can lead to storms.
Thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash floods (from heavy rains and snowmelt) can spring up.
Trees dig deep
When temperatures rise above freezing, the sugar-rich sap of trees and bushes begins to flow again. This is when farmers tap maple trunks and boil the liquid into syrup.
Leaves, flowers and cones grow from tree buds that developed between fall and spring.
In most of the United States, trees that are not evergreen slowed down or stopped growing in winter. As the icy soil warms, roots can take up water, and growth begins again. Evergreens grow faster now than at any other time.
New needles are softer and brighter. New cones are small and colorful.
Flowers look up
Woodland wildflowers usually appear in early spring. For a brief time they get plenty of sun. Most trees have not yet grown leaves that block the light.
Animals wake up
In the spring, animals may look and act different. They might lose some fur or feathers. Their fur might change color, or their feathers might get brighter.
• Some animals, especially birds, travel north, or migrate.
They return home after wintering in warmer areas to the south.
• Many birds build nests. To attract mates, some develop songs. Others might stake out territory, stop living in flocks and start living in pairs.
• Some male animals add body muscle as they get ready to fight other males over territory.
Baby animals arrive
Many wild animals, such as raccoons and birds, can have two or more litters throughout the year. But the first litter usually comes in spring. If the mother is not healthy, that may be her only one.
Farm animals usually have babies in the spring because the farmers plan it that way.
Insects come out
Social insects, such as ants and bees, go to work. They’ve been huddled together inside their hive or nest during the cold months. They’ve used up most of their food. Workers have to find more food soon.
Some insects fly north. Monarch butterflies travel from Mexico and southern California. Along the way, they lay eggs on milkweed buds, then continue their journey. When these eggs hatch and change to butterflies, they fly north, too. They know where to go even though no adults are around to show them the way.
Some eggs, such as those of grasshoppers and crickets, hatch underground. Little grasshoppers push their way to the soil’s surface and start eating their favorite plants.
Some butterflies and beetles spend the winter in pupa stage — wrapped in a cocoon. As it warms, the adult comes out of the case.