Nature Connection: Dreary Days

March is always a tough month here on Cape Cod. While our Southern friends are already luxuriating in early blooms and warmer breezes, we are still stuck in the mud and the guck. 

After the blizzard, the landscape seemed soft, covered in a nice white blanket. This was true until you went outdoors. Everywhere big tree branches were down, and in many areas tree tops had toppled. More than a few old trees gave up their ghost and keeled over, often taking power lines with them. Even now, several weeks after the storm, the fallen branches and sad, broken trees line the roadways, waiting to be cut up, packed up and sent away to become chips or firewood or maybe a wood-turned bowl or two.

The snow may have melted, but it left behind a landscape that looked like the winter we just had, a little rough and very tired. A recent drive from one end of the Cape to the other revealed how much damage winter had left behind. The beaches had lost a lot of sand in some areas while others seemed to be gaining new sandbars. There were steep cuts in the dunes and a lot of old wood and seaweed tossed all over the sand.

A long beach walk along a cold shore on a gray, raw day can be less than lovely, especially if you add a crisp wind off the water. The wrack line was filled with skate egg cases that seemed posed as if dancers, inviting me to continue in spite of the cold. I found a few egg cases of the channeled whelk, which are different from the common cases I find on the south side, those of the knobbed whelk. I pocketed one to add to my collection of various beach finds, along with a beautiful smooth white stone. (Can anyone ever have too many smooth white stones?)

A few gulls watched me while others stood by a small stream of water running between exposed sandbars. From what I could see left in the sand they were waiting for early crabs to be on the move.

Now that the ice and snow were gone, the beach itself was dreary-looking on this rank gray day. The seaweed clumped in batches on the sand was blackened and raggedy looking. The old grasses and straw that had washed up had taken on a gray, lackluster appearance. There was still a bit of gold to be seen in the dunes but soon the dune grasses will finish their last gasp before the new grasses emerge from the sand.

Roots and broken branches hung precariously from the steep cuts in the dunes left by erosion. An unfortunate red cedar had been ripped up by its roots and left hanging off the dune, almost touching the sand on the ground below.

Broken shells, mostly of razor clams and quahogs, were scattered across the sand, and battered feathers lay limp among them. The air, though warmer than earlier in the week, was still penetratingly cold and damp. It smelled of saltwater, though, and that was refreshing after all the ice.

The early morning bird chorus has begun, with new birds joining every few days. Cardinals, song sparrows, Carolina wrens and flickers have been very vocal. Robins may be thinking about it, and red-winged blackbirds are getting boisterous. Once the temperatures flirt with 50 degrees for a week or more, the amphibians will wake up and start to sing. Listen for the quacking of wood frogs in vernal pools and of course the familiar peeps of the spring peepers. Spotted salamanders will be on the move on rainy March nights, also heading for vernal pools. Spadefoot toads may be out, and other frogs will soon return to their favorite spots in area ponds.

This can be a dicey time for snakes and turtles. They will also respond to warmer days but may be slow to move, so watch out for them in your yard, on your driveway or local roads. Snakes especially may seek out the warmth of sun warmed asphalt or sand. Please remember that we have no poisonous snakes on Cape Cod. The ones you see may give you the shivers, but they do a lot of good in our gardens and yards. They eat a lot of the little things you don’t like, so let them do their work and leave them alone. They don’t want to be your friend, either.

Keep watch for the early flowers, for returning migratory birds. The world is a frustrating, scary place right now. It may be dreary today, but spring is on its way. Get outside and enjoy the beauty of our place. Even in this muddy landscape full of broken trees there is beauty. Just listen to the song sparrow as he sings his tale far and wide. Watch a squirrel dig for acorns he buried last fall or a rabbit give itself a wash. 

Best of all? Walk a beach, say hey to a gull, and tuck a beautiful smooth white stone into your pocket. It will make you feel less dreary.