Gerald Winegrad: Spring’s arrival should tempt you to get outdoors around Annapolis | COMMENTARY

Spring arrived this weekend with the vernal equinox Saturday at 5:37 a.m. This event occurs when the Earth tilts more towards the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere as direct sunlight crosses the equator heading north.

This results in increasing daylight hours and warming temperatures when the length of day and night is roughly equal — equinox meaning “equal night” in Latin.

This equinox has been celebrated as a time of rebirth and abundance by ancient cultures around the world. The Mayans gathered at the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico. It was amazingly designed to produce a serpent shadow at the precise moment of the equinox, and for a period of 30 minutes, a “snake of sunlight” appears to slither down the stairs to the plumed serpent deity of Kukulkan, whose carved head is found at the base. Thousands of people gather there every year to witness this event.

Each passing day affords us more time to explore nature and refresh our souls after a horrid COVID-19 winter. Let us all take advantage of the many opportunities in Chesapeake Bay country and beyond to connect with the wonders and beauty of our natural world.

You do not have to travel far as we are fortunate to have parks and natural areas to find “the tonic of wildness” Henry David Thoreau urged us to seek. You will witness the Greatest Show on Earth as spring brings a magical transformation in nature.

After shedding their leaves in the fall, deciduous trees and shrubs add vibrant blooms helping turn the landscape from grey and brown to a verdant green. Flowers blossom including daffodils and crocuses exuding and sharing their florescence. Butterflies and bees increase from winter.

Migration brings the return of many bird species and the change in the coloration in many of our feathered migrant and resident friends. American Goldfinch males put on a bright suit of yellow and black while many of our gull and tern species regain their blackish heads.

More than any other species, the returning Osprey represents the change that is upon us as the first osprey heralds a new beginning in nature’s cycle. A neighbor spotted the first osprey on Fishing Creek on Feb. 28, an early sighting for this winged warrior flying in from South America.

One Maryland osprey was found in Bolivia, 3,800 miles away. I am filled with joy in heralding their return, watching from our Oyster Creek home and hearing their high-pitched peep-whistling daily as they go about starting and raising a family again.

For many people caught up in the daily demands of busy lives and COVID-19, getting outdoors to embrace the natural world may hit a wall of inertia. But you can easily connect as simply as a walk in your neighborhood or a nearby park. Our area is filled with many fine public natural areas including: Quiet Waters, Thomas Point, Beverly Triton, Mayo, Downs, Kinder, Fort Smallwood, and Sandy Point Parks; Bacon Ridge Natural Area; and the B&A Trail.

They offer walks through forested areas and some provide access to our many creeks, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay. Capital columnist Jeff Holland has written ably about the many options available.

Of course, you can always attract birds to your residence — all that is needed are some bird feeders, bird food, and ideally a bird bath. Binoculars and a bird ID book will help you enjoy the flighted critters dining on your offerings. Different feeders and seed or suet will attract more species and you will have to learn the tricks of keeping squirrels and deer from stealing your bird food.

More than 450 bird species have been documented in Maryland with half of these species nesting in the state. About 100 species are considered vagrant or accidental so you are not likely to see them.

The local Anne Arundel Bird Club 67th Christmas Bird Count for Annapolis and Gibson Island occurred on Jan. 3. Part of a nationwide tabulation, 70 local field volunteers and 21 feeder watchers spotted 106 species numbering 55,000 birds with Canada Geese the most numerous (7,793), including many resident geese, and 6,888 migratory ruddy ducks coming in at No. 2.

In our front yard feeders and in our backyard, we have been regularly seeing Eastern bluebirds, cardinals, dark-eyed juncos, downy woodpeckers, Carolina wrens, blue jays, white-breasted nuthatches, tufted titmouse, Carolina chickadees, ruddy Ducks, buffleheads and scaups.

One wintry day, we saw a large flock of beautiful cedar waxwings close-up through our window devouring all the berries on our holly tree. We also have been seeing a pair of bald eagles regularly using an osprey nest to perch. Now that the owners’ have returned from South America, the bald eagles likely returned to their nest.

Once, a young birder went out with Chan Robbins, a famous Maryland ornithologist. As Chan kept seeing and identifying a growing number of bird species, the younger man frustratingly asked: “Chan, how do you see all these birds?”

Chan simply replied, “Because I am looking.”

With spring here, I hope you will be looking, too. And this I guarantee: you will never be bored once you get into birding and you will never just see or learn about birds in doing so.

All birding leads to finding other critters including butterflies, frogs, and reptiles and identifying trees and other plants.

I recommend joining the Anne Arundel Bird Club for those interested in birds. Go to: aabirdclub.org

I will miss the thousands of waterfowl that have left for northern summer breeding grounds as far away as the North Slope of Alaska. But the tundra swans and canvasbacks will be back when fall turns to winter again.

“The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.” —John Muir