Right now we are sort of between seasons. The winter activities are behind us, I hope, and spring is approaching quickly. While I wait for the turkey seasons to arrive, now is a perfect time to welcome back some sights and sounds of friends that are a harbinger to the next season.

Have you ever taken notice of the far-off cry from a seagull? It sounds eerily similar to a bull elk locator bugle. It blends into the sky and is easy to miss. The call of a seagull is not a winter event, that is for sure, but rather an audio cue that the ice is gone for another year.

Fun fact: in Wisconsin, some species like Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, can defoliate small islands on the Great Lakes due to their diet and colonial nesting habits, leading to a unique ecosystem with berry-dominant vegetation.

A gobble is arguably the most recognizable call of spring. The tom turkey’s gobble on a cool morning screams out only to return as an echo off the far hillsides. Sitting in a turkey blind when that happens makes your coffee taste better. When that happens right behind your blind, it makes you spill your coffee.

Fun fact: tom turkeys (male turkeys) in Wisconsin have fleshy, red, white and blue heads that can change color depending on their emotional state. For example, brighter colors indicate higher excitement or aggression.

Keeping in the season, a woodcock has a unique way of drawing attention to itself. In the springtime a woodcock makes a distant buzz sound that is best described as a bee meeting an electric fence. It’s actually part of an elaborate mating ritual. In the coming weeks I plan to designate a week of OTT towards that subject.

Fun fact: they have a unique, upside-down brain structure, with the cerebellum (responsible for balance and coordination) located below the rest of the brain.

Similar but different than a woodcock is the ruffed grouse that also has a great way of attracting attention to itself. In the spring the male will perch himself on a downed log and drum his wings as quickly as he can, resulting in a sound that is exactly like my Grandpa Wally trying to start his old, stubborn, pull cord beat up lawnmower. When I was at the headwaters of my life, a fancy way to say, “when I was a kid,” I would try slipping in on drumming males. Every time the bird would fire up his wings, I would move closer and when he stopped, I would stop. I never caught one, but it was fun trying.

Fun fact: ruffed grouse can create their own "igloos" by diving headfirst into deep snow and using their body heat to form a warm, snow-dome shelter.

All these sights and sounds are such a timely welcoming event. They are a collective notice that we’ve made it. We are on the good side of the sun and it’s time to enjoy being outdoors again.

Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at dave@piercecountyjournal.news Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @thepiercecountyjournal