In the warm pre-spring week of last month, Wood Frogs by the dozens showed up in the pond at Sheep Hill. The males floated on the pond’s surface, their calls sounding like the quacking of ducks.
After a day or two, one place at the pond’s edge was a mass of jelly-like egg masses. Shortly after that the Wood Frogs left the pond for the woodlands, where they spend the greatest part of their lives.
In the egg masses the change to tiny tadpole happened very quickly.
By the first week of April, most of the eggs had already hatched, and the tadpoles disappeared from the shallow water.
Green frog tadpoles are now active. These large tadpoles hatched last summer and have overwintered. It won’t be long before we start seeing the frogs!
WINTER BLUEBIRDS
As I walked from my car to the office door on Wednesday morning, a mild and distinctly un-end-of-January kind of day, the song of a bluebird welcomed me. The Eastern Bluebird song is a lovely soft warble, a thrill to hear any time of year but especially so now, when the calendar at least still says winter.
There were several males singing, and male and female birds were checking out the nest boxes around Sheep Hill that we hope they will find suitable for raising their broods this year. It’s still early, and they won’t be nesting before true spring, but it is a good reminder that it’s time to open up the boxes and remove last year’s nests. It’s an annual rite that invokes spring even when there is still snow on the ground. Cleaning out the boxes gets rid of nest debris and unwelcome pests, and gives the opportunity to assess the condition of the nest boxes and make any needed repairs.
The nest boxes provide homes for other cavity nesting birds (and the occasional overwintering mouse or Flying Squirrel), especially when there aren’t enough suitable natural sites. You’ll know what kind of bird nested in your box by the nests they leave behind. Eastern Bluebirds use dried grasses and straw-like stems to make their cup-shaped nest. The Black-capped Chickadee nest is soft and mossy; Tree Swallows always incorporate feathers into their nests; House Wren nests are a collection of uncomfortable looking sticks.
It is much more common to see Eastern Bluebirds and American Robins overwintering in our area today than it was a few decades ago. They are able to survive on wild fruits and berries, and worms and insects gleaned from seeps and wetlands. An open winter like this year’s means natural foods are plentiful, but robins have learned to visit bird feeders for some high-fat supplement to their winter diet when the natural food supply is limited.
If you have bird nest boxes, this weekend will be perfect for rounding up the kids and cleaning them out. Before removing each nest, take a look at its structure and try to identify its maker. Be sure to take out all remaining nest materials and wipe the inside of the box clean with disinfectant. Repair any leaks or cracks, and your box will be ready for spring and its next colorful occupant.
No snow in January
What’s wrong with this picture? This is a much different mid-January landscape than at this time last year.
With today’s rain even the remnants of ski tracks have disappeared, the pond is muddy and high, and the January thaw
has persisted throughout the month.
Even if there’s no snowshoeing, skiing or sledding, put on your yaktrax © and get out on the trails. It’s a great time of
year to look at structure; the forms of trees and their branches against the sky; the rocks and outcrops hidden by foliage
during the summer; the openness of the views through the woods…it all adds up to a unique experience.
Put your tracking senses into gear, and without snow to show their tracks, see what signs of animals you can discover.
Claw marks on tree bark, half-eaten nuts and cones, antlers, and disturbed leaves where turkey or deer have
been looking for food, are all clues to the inhabitants of the forest.
We’re still hoping for snow, but in the meantime there’s plenty to do outdoors, and lots of outdoors in Williamstown to enjoy.
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No snow in January 2012
