yowza. bloodroot, frog song, TRILLIUM…

This is from a walk in the woods in town, not where we live. Tis bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)! Check out those leaves. So very modest. Don’t look! Don’t look!

Back at home, I visited the lone hyacinth, last seen here on March 22nd. It’s opened up a bit, eh?

The lawn is dotted with eastern blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium atlanticum).

Let the records show that our feral forsythia has finally started in – earlier than last year, to be sure, but later than the highly southern latitudes just a couple of miles from here.
When you’re lying in the leaf litter taking pictures, sometimes you come across unexpected riches, like…

…a whole stash of bonus hyacinth in the beginnings of the woods.
Have you ever wondered just exactly what an almost-open daffodil looks like? I know I have.

Not Yet.

Alllmost…

Check this out, it can’t decide if it’s white, or yellow. Sweet.
We’ve got some coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) – normally our very first wildflower, but this crazy spring, it’s scrambling to keep its place in the line-up.

 Click here to see what it looks like when it goes to seed.
Hold on to your hats, the willow (species unknown) out by the mailbox is simply crazy.
This is soooo weird, because these guys didn’t get going until a MONTH from now last year, when other things were up and running that so far I’ve seen no sign of.
And now, for the audio portion. I visited the wetland across the way. Want to hear the quintessential sound of Vermont spring? (Hint: if you are not from around here, the correct answer is “yes”.)


I admit, I got distracted by the end by a tadpole, which I didn’t capture in the video. But here’s a tadpole for you:

And-and-and I spotted something green amidst the clutter of leaf litter and and and it’s TRILLIUM.

Stay tuned on this puppy, it’ll be glorious. (Trillium erectum.)

one epic day after another: frogs on film

pant, pant, pant, I’m so excited about today’s adventures!
On my way back from a run yesterday, I met a neighbor just up the road who invited me to check out a newly-built walkway and platform that is being constructed at the edge of a fragment of wetland/vernal pool across the road from our house, right next to the community elementary school.

Here ‘tis. This afternoon, having already virtuously put laundry out to dry on the deck, I headed out, camera in hand.
Oh Heaven. The frogs were in full chorus. There are two kinds of frogs out and about, calling these days: spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), and wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). The peepers have a high pitched call – you can listen to it here. The wood frogs have more of a chuckling duck sound. You can listen to it here. Did I know this when I went out there? Did I even know it five minutes ago? I did not. Thank you, internet! And more specifically, the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas.
When I first got out to the platform, they – both theys – were calling, but stopped a couple of minutes after I got there. I didn’t know to what extent it was my presence – as soon as I got to the platform, some wood frogs in the water right by the platform disappeared in a splash. But everybody continued calling for a couple of minutes before it all died down. I knew the peepers were farther away, in or near a cluster of trees on the other side of the vernal pool, and they kept going for a while. So I figured they have a natural cycle of conversation and contemplation, and I resolved to wait them out. After about 20 minutes, everybody started in again. That’s when I remembered my magic camera can do video.

I made a video! Go check it out. There are three frogs, total, and about 47 seconds in, one of them scoots toward another rather aggressively.

I also discovered the e-zoom button on my camera, which zooms in extra close, closer than the W – T button thingy on the top of the camera. Thus, I bring to you, close-ups of floating wood frogs!

In this one, you can see he’s basically either just called, or is hanging out, because he looks skinny.

…but in this one, and the ones below, he’s inhaling and making his burbly chuckling duck call. See how fat he is, by comparison?


Look at that cute little hand! I think I’m in love. I also took several pictures of what I couldn’t see clearly, but assumed was a frog. Later, I read that female wood frogs are redder – what do you think? A female? Or some random floaty object?

Hanging out with the frogs was awesome. On the way home, I visited the usual suspects.

The alder (Alnus serrulata) catkins are getting so long that they don’t fit into one frame as close-up as I would like, so let’s zoom in and see what’s actually happening here:

I believe what we’re seeing here – the little two-part clumps – are the anthers. The anther is the part that will be releasing pollen, which will eventually make its way to the female catkins. Thank you, wikipedia.
In gray birch (Betula populifolia) land, the buds with their headdresses are opening up even more:

Or at least, this particular one is. There are still many, many buds that haven’t opened one little bit.

 

And here’s a gray birch male catkin – similar anther-thingys happening, I believe.

Here’s yesterday’s spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) again. Hey look: anthers!

And then there’s the shrub in the side yard that is probably some kind of azalea?

But what kind of azalea does this? I know this will produce sprays of creamy little flowers, but not for a while.