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Maine's Spring Starts to Bloom

March 25, 2009 - PORTLAND -- Skunk cabbage is poking up in some snowless areas of the woods at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve on Laudholm Farm.

Street-sweeping machines are whisking away road sand in South Portland.

And woodchucks are emerging from their burrows at Maine Audubon's headquarters on Gilsland Farm in Falmouth.

The signs of spring have been sprouting all over southern Maine this week after a string of warm, sunny days. And the vernal equinox arrived Friday.

The National Weather Service expects normal temperatures and precipitation for the next three months, said John Cannon, meteorologist at the Gray office. That means an average high of 42 and low near 25 for the rest of the month, an average high of 53 and low near 34 in April and an average high of 63 and low of 43 in May. Even better, said Cannon, no major storms are on the horizon.

"The big news is, it is fair and dry, which is actually helping our flood outlook for the major rivers," Cannon said.

Outside O'Donal's Nursery in Gorham, the yellow witch hazel tree is blooming.

"That is the first sign of spring for us," said Jeff O'Donal. It is now fairly safe to put out hardy potted plants without danger of frost damage, he said.

Red-winged blackbirds have arrived in recent days at the Wells reserve, a sure sign of spring – unlike Canadian robins, which are not considered a reliable harbinger because they spend winter in southern Maine.

"We are excited it is spring," said Scott Richardson, the reserve's communications director.

In just the past week, the fields that surround the Wells reserve have turned from white to yellow-brown as the snow melted.

Richardson said another indication of spring was the return of the woodcock, a shorebird that lives in the forest.

Any day now, male woodcocks will begin their elaborate courtship flights, which people can watch during several bird walks at the reserve in the next month.

Flowering bulbs also have begun to emerge and bloom in warm and sunny spots.

"Crocuses are coming up close to the foundation of the house, and I see song sparrows," said Gordon "Bud" Johnston of Sanford, a Master Gardener and president of the Sanford-Springvale Mousam Way Land Trust.

Those eager for a spring tonic should look for sap icicles on the storm-damaged branches of sugar maples, said Bob Bittenbender, assistant property manager at Gilsland Farm.

Bittenbender said crows are also getting ready to nest and can be seen flying around with sticks in their bills. Pussy willows are forming, and red maples' buds are swelling.

But Bittenbender said the surest sign is the appearance of mud and the arrival of "poteus holeus," more commonly known as potholes and frost heaves.

"This is really a fun time," he said.

By BETH QUIMBY, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, March 21, 2009


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