They have been out there in the little pond since at least February 11th clacking away day and night. They’re having a ball in their breeding season. Meeting up at the neighborhood little pond.
Eggs in the water, waiting for the season to move along. Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus).
Nature is great entertainment. All one has to do is pay attention.
_______________________________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
The Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) is a summer resident here at my Virginia cabin. They are constantly reminding me that they’re around, though I seldom see them. Their normal place to be is high up in the tree tops while hunting for their meals, out of sight. Their summer diet is predominantly insects of all sorts, including mosquitoes, flies, caterpillars, as well as spiders and small snails. They’ll also eat plant materials like small fruits, and an occasional flower or leaf bud.
They remind me that they’re up there in the tree tops by singing to me. I use a mnemonic to remember the males’ song. They sing over and over again, “Here I am! Where are you?” Keeping that mnemonic in mind makes it easy to recognize their song. Both the male and the female will participate in their calls which are a Catbird-like “myaah.”
The Red-eyed Vireo spends its breeding season across forests of southern Canada and throughout the woodlands of the northwestern, central, and eastern US. As they migrate they fly long distances at night in groups of up to thirty, sometimes including other species like warblers, tanagers and flycatchers. Their fall migration destination is northern South America and the Amazon Basin.
Hooded Warblers (Setophaga citrina) have been delighting me here in the mountains for many years. They spend the breeding season in eastern North America, and the winter in Central America and the West Indies.
If you feed the birds during the summer, these birds generally won’t come to your feeders. They spend all their feeding moments gleaning insects and spiders from the leaves of the dense understory. And occasionally showing off by catching a flying insect in midair.
My strategy to get frequent glimpses of these beautiful birds is to provide them with a birdbath, including one that has a dripper. The bird at the birdbath in the picture above is a female Hooded Warbler looking a bit disheveled after taking a dip.
And here a male Hooded Warbler considers taking a dive from the dripper into the water.
And here he is dripping wet. Believe me, birdbaths are quite the draw for birds. My birds really need a birdbath, for my sake.
Repairing the porch. Lots of noise and commotion. It brought out something I’ve not seen before. A Broad-headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps). A male during breeding season, with orange-red head that is puffed up which gives it the name “broad-headed.” I’ve seen lots of these skinks before, smaller ones, younger ones. Cute little ones just a couple inches long.
As a youngster, they have a distinctive bright blue tail. That blue fades as the skink matures. They also lose those stripes, at least the male does. The female’s stripes become more subtle.
But to see this big guy, this mature male, thirteen inches long, scampering around with such a bright color and no stripes. Quite a wonderful surprise.
As the evening was coming to a close last night I was so pleased to hear a sound I’ve grown fond of. “Clack, clack, clack!” An odd sound not heard since LAST spring. Today my pond has been REALLY active.
The sound of Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). They’ve left their winter hibernating spots. Perhaps under a rock, beneath a log, or snug under leaf litter, they come out in search of a pool of water to join others for breeding. They’ll breed in lakes and slow flowing streams, but more often seek out vernal pools which won’t have predators that would eat their eggs or tadpoles.
During the day into the evening males call to attract females making quite a hullabaloo.
Within just a couple days there will be MANY eggs in the pond. The eggs laid in the water, as a male clasps a female, releasing sperm into the water to fertilize the eggs. Often those eggs are hatched within a week. And by late June or early July there will be more Wood Frogs here in the woods.
Quite the contrast to their breeding season during which Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are singularly territorial, winter is a time for them to hang out in flocks.
Sitting in the blueberry bushes waiting their turn at the platform feeder. Waiting for a chance at the sunflower seeds.
Or just sitting soaking up the sun enjoying its warmth.
It surprises me everyday to see so many beautiful Cardinals gathering in the snow, soft buff colored and brilliant red exclamation points in the black and white landscape.
