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12 Months of the Metroparks: March

3.4.2026

By Erin Parker, Interpretive Services Supervisor

Woodcocks

While March in Michigan is early for most returning birds, some of the earliest migrators are not only back but getting ready for nesting season. Woodcock, a rotund forest-dwelling bird, return in early-to-mid March from their warmer winter habitats along the Gulf and East Coasts.

Woodcock may be well camouflaged on the ground where they feed and nest, but their dramatic courtship “dance” is anything but hidden! The males put on a noisy aerial and ground-based performance for the female birds that is an early spring phenomenon in the Midwest.

The courtship ritual of the male woodcock is truly an early spring spectacle! Their preferred habitat for display is forest openings or edges. Just after sunset, the male bird will begin marching around on the ground with a loud “peent” sound. After a few minutes of this, he’ll fly up in the air and the wind in his wings makes whistling noises. He’ll fly up to 200-300 feet in the air. On his descent, he twirls downward making liquid-sounding chirps. He typically lands within a few feet of where he took off from, and then begins the process all over again! This ritual is a sure sign that spring is on its way, even if there’s still patchy snow on the ground.

In your Metroparks, Oakwoods Metropark Nature Center and Stony Creek Metropark Nature Center both offer guided woodcock walks to experience this springtime event in person!

Vernal Pools

Another sign that spring is coming, even if the weather remains wintry, is the first night of rain when temperatures reach 35-40 degrees. These specific weather conditions often trigger the start of a frenzied vernal pool breeding season: a short time in the spring where wooded lowlands are full of water from snowmelt and rainwater and become the breeding grounds for a variety of Michigan amphibians.

Many species of frogs and salamanders use vernal pools for breeding. This spotted salamander is one species that requires vernal pools for breeding and exhibit “high site fidelity”, which means that they return every year to the exact same pond.

From blue-spotted salamander to wood frogs, the early spring rains trigger a migration from the wooded areas where they hibernated to these critical breeding pools. Because these are seasonally flooded wetlands, they don’t sustain fish populations which allows amphibian eggs and larvae (tadpoles) to thrive.

March can be a tough month in Michigan as the weather fluctuates between springlike and still wintry. But there is still plenty to see and do outside before the big pulses of spring events start in earnest in April and May! Join a woodcock walk or vernal pool program and appreciate the charms of this in-between season.

Though spring peepers are a tiny frog in size (about the size of a postage stamp!), they make up for it in volume! Spring peepers, easily identified in the field with the x shape on their back, make a high-pitched song that can be almost painfully loud at close range!

Experiencing a migration event or even a later-spring vernal pool at peak breeding season is  a sensory experience – from ice-cold water to the deafening song of spring peepers, wood, and western chorus frogs; to the seemingly frantic movements of frogs and salamanders on the move.

In the water, organisms like fairy shrimp seem to appear out of nowhere. These tiny crustaceans, relatives to lobsters and crabs, have spent the winter months in the sediments and leaf litter and now hatch out to consume algae and plankton, breed, and lay the eggs that will withstand the potential dry season of the summer and all the long months of winter, waiting to hatch out the next generation of fairy shrimp when next spring’s rains fall.

Many of your Metroparks have protected these unique habitats and help visitors explore vernal pools up close. Check out programs at Oakwoods and Stony Creek to discover the unique habitats of vernal pools.

 

Resources and upcoming programs:

Woodcock Walk– Stony Creek Nature Center –March 13th 7-8:30 p.m.

Vernal Pool Discovery– Stony Creek Metropark Nature Center- March 14th 10 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Vernal Pools are Cool– Oakwoods Metropark Nature Center- Saturday, March 14 2-3:30 p.m.

Woodcock Walk– Oakwoods Metropark Nature Center- March 20th 7 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Salamanders and Frogs– Stony Creek Metropark Nature Center- March 20th 7 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.

Woodcock Walk– Oakwoods Metropark Nature Center- March 27h 7 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

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