Harbingers of Spring

It is early April...and Vermonters are on the look-out for ‘signs of spring’ to report to our ‘Eye on the Sky’ meteorologists. The most salient signs will be announced on Vermont Public Radio.

Even up here in the mountains, although we lag the valley by ten days or more, there are already several ‘signs of spring’ in evidence:

• A nice patch of snowdrops is blooming near my front door (reminder to self...I WILL plant more snowdrop bulbs next fall)
• The wood frogs have begun their noisy mating in our pond and the red-tailed hawk stopped by for breakfast
• Two tree swallows, along with a lone phoebe, put in a brief appearance
• And last week the road-grader came by (a most welcome event).

The most exciting ‘sign’ was undoubtedly the arrival of the wood frogs yesterday afternoon. Every year their sudden cacophony creates a truly visceral thrill. It means that real spring, with its sunny yellows and greens, will be here in a few short weeks.

It was many years ago now when, one afternoon in early April, I heard a loud quacking noise coming from the pond at the bottom of our garden. Assuming it might be a pair of mallard ducks checking out potential nesting sites, I crept down to take a look. To my surprise, I saw the entire surface of the pond was pock-marked with little moving dots. Then suddenly everything went silent.... I had been discovered! After a few minutes the sounds began again, and I figured out what was making the noise...hundreds of little frogs swimming every which way.

Wood frogs (Rana sylvatica), as their name implies, spend almost most of their lives in the damp woods. (Last summer I spotted one in the leaf litter to show my grandchildren.) But at this time of year a little miracle of nature occurs. Within a couple of days, and right on cue, all the wood frogs know that NOW is the right time to migrate out of the woods and go to nearby small ponds for their annual mating ritual. After a few weeks of frenzied activity they vanish back into the woods, leaving behind large rafts of spawn that, by early summer, and in just our pond alone, will have morphed into thousands of wiggling tadpoles.

This morning (the snow has gone now) the wood frogs (or ‘quackers’ as I still call them) have been in the pond for less than 24 hours when, also on cue, we spotted a keen-eyed red-tailed hawk perched on an overhanging branch. Then he swooped down to snag a frog -- right out of the water -- for breakfast. This is the first hawk I have seen this season up at our altitude (1700 feet); somehow they too know about the ‘signs of spring’.

Each summer Dick and I enjoy watching tree swallows raise their families in one or more of the nest boxes in our big perennial bed. We are also very fond of the phoebes, small birds with a characteristic tail bob, that return each year and fix up their grassy nest above our barn door. Both are fly catching birds and presumably they are attracted by the abundant insect life in and around our pond. But I was really surprised when last Saturday Dick saw a pair of swallows, along with a lone phoebe, in the garden, looking hopefully for food. In early April there are few insects available, so both the swallows and the phoebe left again. And I am reminded of the saying, attributed to Aristotle, ‘One swallow does not a summer make.’

And the final harbinger of spring this week was indeed the road-grader. This ponderous piece of machinery gets rid of the ruts and potholes that plague all dirt roads after the ravages of winter. It does this by scraping off the top few inches of the gravel and redepositing it as a smooth fluffy layer all across the road, which will then be tamped firm by the next dozen or so cars that happen to pass by. Another rite of spring in the country!

Comments

[carolyn]

I just found your blog and have enjoyed my visit.I live in Prince Edward Island and have been waiting for the signs of spring too.This past week we also heard the frogs singing up a storm and had a few warm sunny days in a row.Good things are about to happen!
Carolyn