Maple blossoms

I guess I've never really taken the time to appreciate maple trees in the spring before. This year, however, with maples blooming right outside my windows, I can't help noticing them. And, well, they're kind of gorgeous.

Not fancy or showy by any means, but I'm in love with this deep red color, and the masses of them all together (even in a not-quite-focused photo)... yeah, it's pretty nice.

I wish I could get closer to the blossoms and examine them more fully... but that's the problem with trees -- they're just so darn tall. :P

UPDATE 4/23/11: More specifically, these are Red Maple trees, as I found out after I managed to see another example of the flowers up close and did some more research online.

White-throated Sparrows

I know a grand total of three species of sparrow. (I have mentioned this fact before.) Basically, these are the sparrows that hang around our yard a lot, so I feel like I've gotten to know these birds pretty well by now. You've got your regular old House Sparrows (invaders from Europe), operatic Song Sparrows, and these guys: White-throated Sparrows.

(OK, bird, can you lift your head a little so we can see your face?)

(Never mind, that picture came out kinda blurry. As you were.)

These are definitely not the drab/boring birds I used to think of when I heard the word "sparrow". Just look at those crazy black and white stripes on the top of this bird's head, and the bright yellow spots above its eyes (in bird-anatomy-speak, these are called "lores"). Not to mention the big white patch on its throat, bordered with a thin line of black so the color stands out even more. I honestly had no idea these birds even existed before last summer, but now I see them all the time.

Incidentally, there are two color forms of this species: a white-striped and a tan-striped variety (referring to the colors on their heads -- the bird in the picture is a white-striped form, although we have tan-striped birds in our yard as well). I can't resist quoting this awesome information about the White-throated Sparrows' color forms, copied from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's online bird guide (www.allaboutbirds.org):

"The two forms are genetically determined, and they persist because individuals almost always mate with a bird of the opposite morph. Males of both color types prefer females with white stripes, but both kinds of females prefer tan-striped males. White-striped birds are more aggressive than tan-striped ones, and white-striped females may be able to outcompete their tan-striped sisters for tan-striped males."

Yeah, so cool.

As a side note, kudos to my landlord for refilling the bird feeder in the front yard that's been standing empty for months. Now I can be the creepy person who hangs out at the front window with binoculars, even more so than I already am. :P

They're back! Wood Frog reproduction, part 2

A couple of weeks ago, as you may remember, I came across some Wood Frogs just waking up and beginning their breeding season, and I was very excited. With the very cold weather that followed, however, the frogs disappeared, and since I only found a few egg masses after that, I was wondering if the frogs would return for a second round of reproduction.

Well, I'm happy to report that Part Two of the Wood Frog mating frenzy is currently underway, with new egg masses already showing up in the pools I visited this morning! One pair of Wood Frogs let me sneak up very close to them so I could take a picture (you can see even more detail if you click on the picture to zoom in):

Now, lest anyone should feel squeamish -- I showed this picture to Paul, and his first reaction was "Ah, why would you show me that??" -- I might point out that the mechanics of amphibian breeding is quite different from that of, say, mammals. Frogs will stay clasped together like this for hours, and the fertilization process is entirely external -- the female lays her eggs in the water and the male deposits his sperm over them (that's why the smooshy, semi-permiable outer membranes of amphibian eggs are so useful). And it's not exactly a private affair, with all those pairs of frogs sharing the same pool. So there's nothing indecent going on here, just frogs being frogs.

Also, I love the color contrast between the male and female in the picture. Never having seen multiple Wood Frogs together in one place outside of breeding season, I don't know whether they're always so differently-colored, or if this is a special seasonal thing. What a beautiful orangey-brown color the female has, though!

In another pool, I found some very different-looking egg masses (and maybe it's not even useful to include this blurry picture here, but there you go). My guess is that these are Spotted Salamander eggs, which I base on the following reasoning: (1) Spotted Salamanders are supposed to start breeding around the same time as Wood Frogs, (2) these masses had a thick "jelly" layer surrounding them, which is characteristic of salamander eggs, from what I've read, and (3) I found the (dead, partially-eaten) remains of an adult Spotted Salamander under a tree nearby. That last part was a pretty sad discovery, because I love these little creatures, and I haven't actually seen one in many, many years. But if these are indeed salamander eggs, then I'll be curious to see what happens with them -- perhaps there will be salamander larvae swimming in these pools before too long!

So all in all, it was a great day for amphibians. I definitely did hear some scattered Spring Peepers calling today as well, but I didn't have any luck locating the little guys. And in conclusion, amphibians are awesome. :D

Swans are really big

The woods at the Naugatuck State Forest were bursting with life when I went for a walk there this morning. Still not much in the way of green things, but the critters were out in force, soaring and scurrying and sailing, and -- in the case of a particularly antsy squirrel -- screaming (at me).

The waterways were especially busy. I counted 26 Common Mergansers, although they kept diving below the surface of the water, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were actually more. And on one end of the lake, three Mute Swans had come to hang out.

Really, these are impressive birds, and they were definitely drawing attention -- someone else (other than me) was taking pictures (the swans didn't seem to be too wary of people), and another guy I passed said he'd never seen swans in these lakes before. (And I mean, I hadn't either, but he seemed to have more experience with these woods than I have.)

 

 

Swan butt!

Mute Swans, I have learned, are actually native to Europe and Asia, but they were introduced to North America in the late 19th century and have since made themselves at home here. From what I've read, they can be quite aggressive and invasive, taking nesting spots from native species, and doing the sorts of things we're not supposed to like about introduced species. But... they sure are pretty, so I find myself conflicted on this issue.

I came across a few Eastern Chipmunks on my walk, and I have to say, I do appreciate how they tend to startle and make noise when I get near (so I know they're there), and then sit perfectly still for a long time (so I can take a picture). The chipmunk in this picture probably would have sat there much longer than it did, if an unleashed dog hadn't come tearing through the underbrush and scared it away. Ah well, I'm not bitter (even though there's a sign that says dogs should be on leashes), and I quite like how this photo turned out anyway. Chipmunks are just too cute. :D

One last observation for today: I watched this Black-Capped Chickadee having a feeding frenzy on the bugs crawling out of this stump. For some reason, I've always assumed that chickadees were mainly seed-eaters (probably because they're so common at bird feeders), so I guess I was a little surprised to find out that they really like bugs, too.

I love how practically every time I go into the woods, I end up learning new things and seeing new creatures. Hooray for discovery!

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!