On the first day of spring — or the vernal equinox — this week, a perky Carolina wren landed on a tulip poplar branch outside my home office window and began singing his heart out. I assume he was trying to attract a mate or establish territory for the upcoming nesting season.
I like to think, though, that he also was proclaiming, “Happy New Year.”
We celebrate our New Year’s Day on Jan. 1, in the dead of winter, when most wild creatures are dormant or have greatly slowed down. But in the natural world the new year really commences in spring, the time of new life.
As the late nature writer Hal Borland wrote: “The annual recurrence of the vernal equinox makes one aware of hidden forces so accurate and so sensitive that the observer can scarcely escape a feeling of awe and wonder.”
The Carolina wren “knows” it’s time to start new life. The seeds “know” it’s time to sprout.
The whole world seems to awaken. Wildflowers bloom. Litters of raccoons, bobcats, opossums, squirrels and other creatures are born. Green tree canopies pop out as if almost overnight. Newly-hatched caterpillars of hundreds of moth and butterfly species appear everywhere on the new foliage, just in time to provide critical nourishment for nesting songbirds and their hatchlings.
For the Carolina chickadee, it may take 5,000 caterpillars to feed one clutch of nestlings.
Indeed, many ancient cultures, such as the Babylonians, celebrated the new year to coincide with the beginning of spring. With the creation of the Julian Calendar, the Romans changed the new year from March to Jan. 1.
But I believe the Babylonians had it right. “Happy New Year.”
TAX CHECKOFF: A way to help Georgia’s nongame wildlife this spring is through your state income tax form. By filling in a dollar amount on line 30 of the long form (Form 500) or line 10 of the short form (Form 500-EZ), you can support nongame species conservation.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be new on Monday. Mercury and Venus are very low in the west around dusk. Mars is in the west just after dark and sets about three hours later. Jupiter rises out of the east before midnight. Saturn rises out of the east about three hours before sunrise.
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