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March2016Weather diary page March 1 Istachatta: Spring is in the air. Night lows all week in the mid 40s to mid 50s, day highs in the mid to high 70's. Dry. Very nice. Trees are budding, everything is showing signs of life. No snake sightings yet. March 6 Istachatta: Spring is arriving. Rabbits appeared about two days ago. After seeing none for months we saw three on one short walk. Bugs still haven't gotten bad, so this is a very nice period. Highs in mid to high 70's, low 80's over the next week, lows in the upper 40's to near 60. March 8 Istachatta: This is the first week that it will be in the mid 80's most all week (highs), that's about 30C. Lows in high 50's to low 60's or 15-17C, so cool mornings, hot days, and lots of very blue sky. March 10 Istachatta: Saw the first snake of the spring, a Southern Black Racer. March 11 Istachatta: Some firefly activity, but very sparse. It's high in the trees and short lived every night. This article sheds some light on it: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-07-04/news/os-no-fireflies-in-florida-20130704_1_fireflies-central-florida-photinus. Also, there is an owl call, or what I'm assuming is an owl call, that is more frequent and that I cannot identify. I'm calling it the monkey owl, but it appears to be, or at least it coincides with, the call from the Barred Owl. But I cannot find any record of this call. I have uploaded the only clip I've been able to capture to http://formosahut.com/audio/monkeybird.mp3. This call only happens at night or dusk, and only for a very short time. I've scoured the Internet and found nothing. My mother, a lifelong birder, has no clue. It's a mystery, and we are in a special ecosystem. I'm thinking it could be young Barred Owls or a mating call. It does almost always happen right after a Barred Owl call. My mother suggested it could be the Black Crowned Night Heron -- see -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go89clX8MI4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqwdICXar6A, but the thing is this call ALWAYS coincides, even comes out of, a Barred Owl call. It's like a Barred Owl call transforms into this. If it is the Heron, it has a relationship with the Barred Owl. March 22 Istachatta: Had a late freeze warning last night. 37F at 8AM, that's 3C. Got a fire going. 37 was the coldest it got. March 25 Istachatta: Temperatures are back to seasonal normals, with daily highs in the high 70's to low 80's. Saw a large turtle laying eggs in the backyard. I think it was a Cooter. Too large for a Box Turtle. Not a Snapper. Not a Gopher Tortoise. March 31, Taidong: Wet, warm, humid winter pattern continued through March - just one cold snap towards the end. Yellow fireflies until mid-March. Kulien trees in full bloom. Spurt of mongoose attacks. Asparagus going well. |