Onward into April

March was a cold, wet month. While February is the driest month of the year in the Helena Valley, March starts the precip cycle back up. The four-month period from March to June is our wet season. March of 2023 had only 3 days that exceeded the average high temp, but had 22 days that exceeded the average low temp. I was out daily – several times every day – looking for signs of spring, however, few were forthcoming until the very end of the month.

Couple the cold with the lack of an out of state trip this year, and the March life list totals for both birds and wildflowers is a bit low. For birds, the total is 26; for wildflowers it is 0. Year list for birds stands at 80 species.

I have driven slightly more than 1,000 miles looking for signs of spring- from Marysville to Park City to York to Bozeman and Fairfield. Snow kept coming and cold temps seem to have delayed the migrations. Or perhaps, the cold temps have pushed the migration back to more typical timing- I have not been keeping track long enough to be able to know.

I am happy that April has arrived as I am certain that, in time, signs of spring will finally burst forth as they have done since the dawn of the flowering plant.

The species list is not showy, but it is a good start.

• Northern Pintail – Mar 1
• Grey Partridge – Mar 2
• Greater Scaup – Mar 3
• Red-winged Blackbird – Mar 5
• Turkey Vulture – Mar 9
• Song Sparrow – Mar 9
• Varied Thrush – Mar 11
• Ferruginous Hawk – Mar 11
• Ring-billed Gull – Mar 18
• Wilson’s Snipe – Mar 18
• Steller’s Jay – Mar 18
• Ruffed Grouse – Mar 18
• Ring-necked Pheasant – Mar 18
• Sandhill Crane – Mar 19
• Cooper’s Hawk – Mar 22
• Killdeer – Mar 22
• Mountain Bluebird – Mar 25
• Western Meadowlark – Mar 25
• Snow Goose – Mar 25
• California Gull – Mar 25
• Swainson’s Hawk – Mar 26
• Trumpeter Swan – Mar 29
• Hooded Merganser – Mar 29
• Cassin’s Finch – Mar 29
• Downy Woodpecker – Mar 31
• Lesser Scaup – Mar 31