Two kids running in the snow. We all need nature—and nature needs you. Together, we can protect the wildlife and wild lands of Massachusetts for generations to come. Make a tax-deductible donation today.
Two kids running in the snow. We all need nature—and nature needs you. Together, we can protect the wildlife and wild lands of Massachusetts for generations to come. Make a tax-deductible donation today.
A Wood Frog rests a forearm on a sunken branch in the water.

Outdoor Almanac

March brings with it much welcomed early signs of spring. Buds are in bloom and American Woodcocks are courting. One of the biggest nights of the year for amphibians unfolds at temporary vernal pools, and there are plenty of opportunities to experience the fun. At the vernal equinox, we'll know that longer days and shorter nights are officially on the horizon. 

What will you discover this March?

Visit a nearby sanctuary or join us for a program to experience the best of March.

Preview of March Outdoor Almanac

Outdoor Almanac

Download or print this month's outdoor almanac. 

download March 2024 Outdoor Almanac (329.6 kB)

March 

3

The furry, light-gray flowers of pussy willow burst from their buds.

4

Black Bears are emerging from their winter sleep and looking for food. Bears have excellent memories, so if you live in an area with bears, take down your bird feeders before the bears visit them.

6

Late winter is a great time to look for ducks. Along the coast you can find Common Eider, Harlequin Duck, scoters, and Long-tailed Duck. In open freshwater habitats look for Wood Duck, Gadwall, Ring-necked Duck, and Common and Hooded merganser.

8

Several moth species overwinter as caterpillars, including the woolly bear caterpillar of the Isabella tiger moth. When the weather warms, they can be found crawling up sticks and last year’s stems looking for a good place to pupate.

10

Eastern cottonwood trees have large, sticky buds. In early spring, honeybees, which are not native, collect the resin to make propolis, a protective glue that they use to seal their hives.

12

Silver, red, and sugar maples are flowering. Maple flowers are wind pollinated and have no petals, but these tiny flowers are beautiful, nonetheless.

14

American Woodcock nuptial flights begin about this time, as the snow melts back in open fields. Around sunset listen for the peent calls followed by the whistle of wings.

16

Listen for the duck like quacking courtship calls of male wood frogs. These frogs return to their vernal pools so early that there is often still ice on the water. Wood frogs only reproduce in vernal pools, so if you hear wood frogs you know there is a vernal pool.

17

The first warm (40°F), rainy night will bring out salamanders as they migrate from their winter burrows to vernal pools to mate. They spend only a short time at the pools and, soon after mating, head back to the uplands.

19

Vernal equinox: first day of spring. Night and day are of equal length.

22

Woodpeckers drill on dead trees both for food and to make nest holes. Pileated Woodpeckers, our largest woodpecker, make large, oblong holes as they follow the tunnels of carpenter ants, which are their favorite food.

25

Full Moon

27

Crows have begun nesting as they’re among the earliest nesters of the passerines (perching birds). Listen and watch as they interact with each other and eat almost anything they can find, from black walnuts to roadkill gray squirrels.

30

Tree Swallows return. Look for them scouting for nest boxes or tree cavities as breeding season begins.