Frogs and Flowers

I'm glad I made it out to Naugatuck State Forest this afternoon to soak in the spring. Yellow-rumped and Pine Warblers were flitting through the treetops among Red Maple blossoms (way too high up for my camera to reach), and the Pine Warblers' trilling calls rang out all over. And I was just in time to catch some of our early woodland flowers coming into bloom!

Trout Lilies are some of my favorite wildflowers, mostly because of their gorgeous mottled leaves:
 

Trout Lily flowers are also lovely, of course, and one particularly sunny patch in the woods was already full of these dangling yellow blooms:
 

Speaking of yellow flowers, the Spicebush plants are just now making clouds of small yellow blossoms, either floating just above eye level:

Or bursting in sprays from the ground:

This (I think) Small White Violet (Viola macloskeyi) looks like a tiny cheerleader, or perhaps a conductor ("come on, spring!"):
 

American Willow catkins float, backlit, above one of the ponds:

I love that the amphibians and reptiles are now out and about. These two Green Frogs looked so perfectly relaxed on their moss-covered rock next to a stream:

Ah yes, sun-warmed rock and stream-dampened moss. I can't imagine a more comfortable place for a frog:

Seeing these two frogs next to each other made me appreciate the variability in Green Frog markings. (And yes, these are both the same species, as far as I know. The only other green-colored frog we have in Connecticut is the American Bullfrog, which lacks the Green Frog's ridges along the sides of its back.) Where the first frog has a lovely green mask, this second frog looks like it dipped its whole head in some green paint:
 

Around the ponds' edges, practically every branch in the water was a basking spot for rows of Painted Turtles -- at least, until a person (me) walked by. Here's a stealthy shot of one of the turtle logs, just before the exodus.
 

The birds were mostly distant or hidden, but this lovely little Chipping Sparrow paused on a shady branch just long enough for a picture:
 

And the explosion of spring life is just beginning!

Mostly Blue and Brown

When I visited Silver Sands State Park this afternoon, I found the beach quiet, windy, and cold (the winter coat and scarf came back out)... and totally beautiful:
 

The low tide made for huge expanses of wave-washed sand, and I don't think I've ever seen the water quite that shade of blue before (practically teal). Seriously, could this water be any prettier?
 

The sights on the rest of my walk continued the ocean's color scheme: lots of blue (sky, water), and lots of brown. A Killdeer posed among waves of dried marsh grass:
 

A Great Egret (the first I've seen this year) circled high over the marsh:
 

A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers drank (in unison) in the middle of a pond:
 

And highly appropriate to the day's theme, a pair of Blue-winged Teal (a particularly awesome-looking duck which I'd never seen before) were also at this pond, but stayed too far away for pictures. (Too bad.)

There was also at least one sign that some other colors are starting to creep into the landscape. The brilliant yellow on these blossoming Willow trees definitely stood out!

Maybe someday we'll even get to see the color green again?

Meeting a Mink, and Various Spring Sights

For the past few days, I've been visiting my family in Maryland, where spring is in full swing -- flowers everywhere, reptiles and amphibians out and about, mid-70s temperatures, the works! I very much enjoyed the vacation, but I was a little worried that I might be missing some key springtime events up here in Connecticut. So when I got back home this afternoon, I took a trip to Naugatuck State Forest, to see how much had changed while I was gone.

And I did miss some things, but not too much. The Wood Frogs have made their first appearance, for starters. I didn't see or hear any of these frogs during my walk today (it had cooled down significantly by the time I got out there), but I did find the results of their earlier activity:

There should still be many more eggs to come, and I'm confident that I'll get to see the frogs when they continue their reproductive activities on future warm days. I heard a few scattered Spring Peepers calling today as well, so it seems the time for amphibians has really arrived!

And there are tiny leaves emerging out there -- the new-spring greenery I saw today was all on invasive plants, but I'll take whatever green I can get right now. The Multiflora Rose stalks were sending little green shoots out all over the place:

Some of these rose leaves were even starting to unfold and take shape:

The Autumn Olive leaves were peeking out, too:

While not green (and not invasive), clouds of puffy gray pussy willows spoke of spring as well:

The most exciting part of my visit to the woods today, though, wasn't strictly spring-related. I was rounding the lake towards the end of my walk, when a long, thin, furry creature bounded across the rocks just to the left of the path, then dove quickly down into a crevice and out of sight. I only saw it for a split second, but I was pretty sure I knew what it was: an American Mink.

I had seen what I thought must've been a mink at this lake once before, last May, but that was from a great distance and I hadn't seen any more signs of the creatures until now. I was really curious to see this creature a little better -- and so close! -- so I decided to see whether, by some chance, the mink would venture back out while I was waiting there....

So I stood as still as I could, and sure enough, after about five minutes or so, a dried plant stalk rustled slightly, and then out of the rocks came a tiny searching nose, little ears and eyes:

Yes, you are a mink! Hello, little creature!

The mink was cautious, and gave me a good looking-over from its safe place in the rocks:

When I didn't immediately lunge forward and try to eat it (and the sounds of my camera's shutter didn't cause any harm), the little creature eventually became quite bold, emerging from its rocky hideout entirely to saunter along the water's edge right in front of me:

Well, that was way more than I expected! Seeing this creature up close, I was actually surprised at how small it was -- it looked about the same size as a pet ferret, and somehow I had pictured minks as bigger in my mind. (I mean, really, how much fur could you get off of this little creature? The whole idea seems less than practical, now that I've seen a mink in real life.)

There were plenty of little fish swimming in the water near the rocks, and I'm sure this must've been what the mink was after. (And hard at work trying to catch them, if that wet fur is any indication.) In any case, it seems like he or she has an excellent setup here: plenty of rocky crevices to hide in and travel through, and food that swims right up to the doorstep. When I left, the mink was popping in and out of the rocks and water a little further along the shore, keeping an eye on me but basically just going about its business as usual:

I suppose it's possible that this mink has gotten fairly used to people, living as it does right next to a path. In any case, it was a wonderful treat to meet such a bold creature. Happy fishing, little mink!

Violets and warblers

Every time I go to the woods, even if I walk through exactly the same places as I did just the day before, it seems like there's always something new to see. I guess this probably has something to do with the fact that I can't look everywhere at once (which is unfortunate), so I'll always be missing some things one day with the possibility of seeing them the next.

So here's my new discovery for today: a whole big patch (several square feet) of these dainty little violets, each plant just a couple of inches tall, which I completely missed when I walked by this spot yesterday. As it turns out (and as I have just learned), there are many different species of violets (and subspecies, and hybrids, etc.), and several of them look very similar to each other. After some research, however, I'm reasonably confident that this is a Small White Violet (also called a Northern White Violet, Viola macloskeyi) -- these plants were growing in a very wet, swampy area, which is characteristic of this species, and they were quite small as the name suggests (and the leaves and flowers were a good match as well, but that was true for some other potential species as well). I'm open for corrections, though, if anyone reading this knows otherwise!

This is another one of the Yellow-rumped Warblers that have been flitting around the woods recently, a male this time (brighter and more colorful than the female). These guys are actually much flashier in real life than this washed-out picture shows, but I think you can still get an idea of the prettiness of these birds. The males are fun to watch, too, because they keep flying up to a perch, fluffing up their feathers, and trilling so that their whole body shakes -- I bet the ladies are impressed. :P

I don't think I've ever payed attention to pussy willows past their small-gray-fuzzy stage, but the catkins on this American Willow were stunning today (there's a lot more detail in this picture if you click on it to zoom in). I actually think this tree was past its peak, with some flowers already falling off into the river below, but it was beautiful nonetheless, and very cool to see up close.

There were many more plants with buds just about ready to burst into bloom -- before too long the forest floor should be awash with color, and then it will really feel like spring. :)

Flowering trees and a froggie update

I went back to the woods this afternoon, for all the normal reasons, of course, but also to check on the Wood Frogs I saw there last week. The frogs were absent today, but look what they left behind:

Eggs! Soon there will be little baby proto-Wood-Frogs (I mean tadpoles) swimming around in these pools. :D This was the only clump of eggs I saw (although I didn't make an exhaustive search), and I know this is a lot of eggs, number-wise, but it really seems like there should be more for all the frogs that were hanging out here last week. I'm wondering whether the cold weather has temporarily deterred the frogs' activities and they'll be back for round two once it gets warmer again, or if this is it for the breeding season this year.... I guess I'll just have to keep checking the pools to see what happens!

In non-amphibian news, I spent some time admiring this lovely Pussy Willow growing on the banks of the lake:

Such happy, fuzzy flowers (or "catkins", as I have just learned to call them). And for whatever reason, they remind me of elementary school.

I did also see a bunch of cool birds today, but unfortunately they were all too far away and moving too quickly for my low-tech camera and my gloved fingers to handle, so I don't have any pictures to show: a Great Blue Heron, a Belted Kingfisher, an Eastern Phoebe (a new one for me, so fun to watch with its bobbing tail and super-quick leaps into the air to catch bugs).

Overall, it was a very lovely day. I'm looking forward to the warm weather arriving, for real this time -- weather predictions say it should be back at 50 by the end of next week!