which comes first, peepers or quackers? to answer that it helps to be outside playing a lot--that and knowing what exactly peepers and quackers are. a peeper is a very small tree frog, Hyla crucifer, commonly referred to as a spring peeper. i learned today that on martha's vineyard they are called "pinkletinks"! they are about the size of a quarter and can make a disproportionately loud peeping sound.
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| http://chilmark2641.blogspot.com/2014/04/pinkletinks.html |
the wood frog, Rana sylvatica, is a bit bigger at ~2 inches. it has a distinctive black eye stripe that is telltale. while they are not quite so loud, their call is unique in that it truly sounds like some sort of duck, quacking out in the woods. the first couple of weeks these two little noise makers are out advertising for a mate, they go day and night. after a while though they slip into being nocturnally vocal.
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| http://www.wellsreserve.org/blog/62-frog_quiz_peeps_quacks_groans_snores_and_more |
i must say, while i don't always write dates down, april 12 seems to be the earliest i have ever heard either of these frogs. i was outside for most of the afternoon on tuesday during april vacation. at one point i noticed one or two frogs, then a few more joined in, and after a bit there were probably a couple dozen--quackers. it wasn't until thursday the 14, that i heard my first peepers. they were out in the same area, up by the watering hole in the field out behind our house.
over the years past, when i was paying attention, wood frogs consistently sounded before spring peepers, though i must admit, some years i didn't always catch the first voice. i try to check the vernal pools about our area and look for eggs from these two species as well as toads and salamanders. i can remember biking one year when the snow was barely gone and stopping up at the larry pond dam. the water was literally filled with mating american toads, but i don't have a date for that (unless skip remembers...).
amphibians are not the only animals doing their spring thing...the birds are all about 'strutting and flitting their hour upon the stage.' most of the last week, for at least two or three hours a morning, several male tom wild turkeys have been using various spots in the field, as they fan their tails, droop their wings, and cluck circles about seemingly oblivious hens. at dusk and sometimes dawn out by the same water hole with the frogs, you can hear the unmistakable nasal peent of the american wood cock as it paces the ground, just before it flies up in a crazy, loopy pattern and makes some pretty weird noises with its wings. then there is the drumming of the ruffed grouse hidden away in the woods or the more public rapping of chimney flashing by some sort of 'wood' pecker--all these antics, designed to attract females. i wonder if i was anything like that when i first met pam...
some species, namely the phoebe and robin, already have their mates and are working on or even done with their nests. those two have taken over girts on the woodshed and both porches. out in the lower woods, i assume the local barred owl pair is just about to hatch their clutch. taking our weekend walk up and over town hill two weeks ago, pam and i surprised a pair of hooded mergansers in the stream fed pond curtesy of the new beaver dam over in the wet spots above bear pond. the male duck is quite amazing with its bold white crest and rusty sides. the female is no slouch either with her cinnamon-y feathered crest.
(all the bird links come from the incredible cornell lab of ornithology "all about birds" website. you can find live cams for many of the species along with video and sound recordings. caution: it is so good you will not be able to 'leave your screen.' i have even used its recordings to call in birds--like the witchity-witchity-witchity call that thoroughly confused a common yellow throat out off our back porch.)
i could go on and on listing...walking and riding bike everyday allows for seeing a lot more than if you stay in checking your various electronic devices. i ran across another new term today--"screenager!" i dare say though, adults are just as bad, maybe even worse. (all these blogs don't write themselves.) but, don't despair, even going out at night can lead to encounters. pam just about made it to the compost pile tonight, when the humps in the garden she thought were rocks started ambling toward her. she came in pretty excited! i put the computer up and grabbed a light figuring if they were ambling they were probably porcupines and wouldn't be very far. plus, they would give me another species to write about. sure enough, i found them, one ten feet up the birches just beyond the well and the other in the pussy willow shrub (sorry i have no idea what it is...but will try to look it up).
it's always lots of fun around here! don't forget, tomorrow is the moonrise--sunset hike up cardigan. i rode the nishiki up to the summer parking lot today--the gate is open. join us if you can; we start hiking at 6:30.
