It's that time of the year again. In like a lion, out like a lamb... March winds blow and make room for April showers - those showers yield to bring May flowers. And so it goes - the cycle making its way like it does year after year. As maddening as the weather may be, lots of cool things are happening during this time of year, and I love every sign that spring has indeed sprung!
March 20th is the official first day of the spring equinox. Two days prior to the 20th, I heard a lone spring peeper calling out in the darkness. For those of you unfamiliar with the spring peeper, it's a small (fingernail sized) frog that heralds the spring season. These frogs may be small, but they are awfully noisy. Well, the little guy started calling out - looking for a mate. "PEEP! PEEP! PEEP!" He sounded pretty funny calling out in the darkness and getting no reply. For a moment I felt sorry for him, but I knew better. Before long, an entire chorus of peepers would be calling out! That chorus took about two days to materialize. The frogs are so noisy at night, that I have to keep my window closed. Granted, I live directly across the street from a wonderful wetland habitat, but those tiny little frogs are really very noisy!
In a few weeks, the spring peepers will give way to the tree frogs. The tree frogs' song is more melodic than the spring peeper's song. Once again the frog is small, about the size of your thumb, but its song is incredibly loud. The tree frogs are a mottled grey/white color, sort of like the color of concrete. They have the most gorgeous eyes, but then again, I think that many amphibians have amazing eyes! The tree frogs will chorus for another (it seems like forever) 6 weeks or so. Every once in a while, I will hear a toad or two calling for mates. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
This morning, Karl found a spotted salamander in the driveway. Yeah, big deal... it is a big deal. I bet you've never seen a salamander like this one before! It was 7, yes 7 inches long! It was easily as big around as a broom handle. Now that's not your average herp! Herps like this are notorious for coming out of hibernation around the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox. They will actually return to the very same vernal pond where they were born, in order to mate. They will travel as far as a quarter mile! That's really far... especially if you're only 7 inches long and mere millimeters from the ground! A vernal pond is a small body of water that forms in a wooded area during the spring time. Various frogs, toads and salamanders meet there, mate and lay their eggs. There is enough water in these bodies of water, to support the metamorphosis from egg to adult. By the time the vernal pond has dried up, the little guys have become adults and have gone off to be productive members of the ecosystem. Nature is really amazing, and delicately balanced. The spotted salamander spends most if its time under ground, so when you get to see one up close, it's really amazing! These beauties can live to be 20 years old.
In addition to frogs and salamanders showing up to welcome spring, the crocuses and daffodils are in full bloom here in Connecticut. The weather man claims that we're in for three days of wet weather, but I caught a glimpse of 80 for Saturday and Sunday, and I'll gladly skip through a few puddles for weather like that! Not bad. Spring has sprung, and I'm having a good time.
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