Like first amphibians, for instance. I'd heard Spring Peepers and saw Wood Frog eggs in the woods this past Thursday, but today I got to actually see the Wood Frogs for myself. I love these little creatures and the weird "quack"-ing sounds the males make. Some of the frogs were coupled up, pinkish-colored female paired with darker brown male:
But mostly there were single males floating across the pool's surface, waiting for the females, and calling out to them when I wasn't looking:
The frogs have produced quite a collection of eggs already -- I wonder how much longer they'll continue their activities:
I spent some time watching a bunch of Red-spotted Newts swimming along the shore of the lakes:
Newts are awesome (and so pretty!), and like the Wood Frogs, it seems like they might now have reproduction on their minds -- or at least, there was a certain amount of wrestling going on while I was there:
I also saw my first caterpillar of the year, a fuzzy Woolly Bear trundling across the path:
Other firsts from today include the first Eastern Phoebe (they're just now coming back from their wintering areas down south), the first turtles (Painted Turtles, basking on logs), and the first tick (crawling up my pant leg, yech).
And there were more cool things to see in the woods, too. A sizable ant mound (which I'd never noticed before) was broken open next to the path, and the big red-and-black ants were scurrying all over the place:
Finally, here's something I've read about on other nature blogs, but that I've never found on my own before -- flowers on an American Hazelnut shrub:
Those long dangly things (catkins) are the male, pollen-bearing flowers, and further along the stem, that tiny pink alien-like growth is the female flower. These little flowers are so weird looking, and also really beautiful -- this is why I'm so glad the internet exists, so that I can be aware of these things and be ready to look for them on my own visits to the woods:
Everything feels so alive now! Hooray for spring!
Everywhere we look, now, we see another amazement! It's fun to see that you are finding so many of the same things I am finding in northern NY, and you're getting great photos of them.
ReplyDeleteI believe I first learned about the hazelnut blossoms by reading your blog, so thank you for spreading the knowledge! It is great to see so many new things happening out there right now, and indeed very cool to see the same sights being reported in different places. :D The internet is awesome.
DeleteWell, you've now passed on the knowledge of hazelnut blossoms to me: I was in the woods today, passed a shrub with catkins and tiny pink flowers, and said to my coworker "Oh my goodness this is a hazelnut! I know because I just saw a photo of these flowers on someone's blog!" So they're here in Wisconsin too. :)
ReplyDeleteYay, that's so exciting! I love learning new things, and I'm glad I could continue the chain of knowledge in this instance. :D
DeleteHAhaha wooly bear. Every year the Hagerstown Almanack gives out prizes to the kids who find the "cutest and cuddliest," "biggest and wooliest," etc. -- and every year they have to remind people not to mail in the actual wooly bears! And, random, the Hagerstown Suns minor league baseball team's mascot is Woolie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y5kqkPUrI0.
ReplyDeleteHaha, aww, that's adorable. Also, wow, how many caterpillars get to be mascots?? That's pretty crazy. (And a little creepy-looking, but haha I always think mascots look weird. :P)
DeleteAmazing photos! Do you have any special techniques for finding newts? I haven't seen one in years. http://erintown.blogspot.ca/
ReplyDeleteThanks, Erin! I just popped over to your blog, and it looks like you see some really cool things in your part of the continent! I don't think I have any special techniques for finding newts -- I tend to just look for wriggling things at the very shallowest parts of ponds, and sometimes those things turn out to be newts. :P
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