Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘Early Spring’ suffers snowy sucker punch
Last Saturday night, most of us remembered to “spring ahead,” turning our clocks forward one hour and losing some sleep in the process. It’s a ritual that anticipates the official arrival of the vernal equinox set to hit town at 6:29 a.m. on March 20.
Perhaps less official (and far less predictable) is the behavior of Mother Nature, that capriciously moody old lady who signals the change of seasons in many ways. When it comes to heralding springtime, the ultimate harbinger for me has long been the birdlike chorus of a tiny, inch-long frog – the spring peeper. Drive along a streamside country road or hike around the wetlands and you’ll hear their collective voices. Once the peeper community has been fully awakened by warmer weather, their song fills the air, especially as twilight approaches. As their chorus builds to a crescendo in the weeks to come you can be assured that Mother Nature has cast off her winter shroud for good.
But in the meantime, our previously balmy weather has taken a serious nosedive with this past weekend’s wintry rebound, subfreezing cold snap, and a snowy blizzard/Nor’easter that was scheduled to plow into our part of the country Monday night into Tuesday. However, if you consider the meteorological data spread over the past few months, including record-setting high temperatures in February, you realize we didn’t have much of a winter at all (with the exception of our latest snowstorm). As a result, the woods have been greening up prematurely and although Mother Nature brought the spring about two weeks earlier than usual – she’s apparently had a chilly change of heart.
My two-week calculation was based on the activities of my spring peeper friends. On average, Pennsylvania’s smallest frogs break into their sustained song in mid March, often right around the 15th (the Ides of March). But this year, the peepers’ high-pitched little voices broke out on March 1, two weeks earlier than in any past year I can remember. Once these little inch-long frogs have emerged from hibernation the males begin chirping their tiny hearts out in hopes of attracting a mate. Their chances of hooking up with a female frog are boosted by how loud and how fast they can peep. Once an amorous encounter is consummated, the females will deposit a thousand or more eggs in vernal pools.
Although the peeper chorus might be temporarily silenced when buried under a blanket of snow, it will soon be joined by the ducklike quacking of wood frogs as they too perform their wetlands serenade. Wood frogs can grow to be three inches long, not much larger than spring peepers, and also lay their eggs in vernal pools.
Other signs of spring have been everywhere. One of the earliest was provided by another denizen of swamps and wetlands, the skunk cabbage, which is neither skunk nor cabbage. It’s a plant that began poking its snout through the mud a month or more ago. Other plants, including wild iris and crocus (not to mention your garden daffodils) are also way ahead of schedule as are budding trees – timing they may live to regret thanks to Mother Nature’s sudden and stormy sucker punch.
Another telltale springtime ritual in our Northbrook backyard is the appearance of large flocks of blackbirds, particularly redwings, descending upon our property, settling in tree branches and brush, and voicing a croaky chorus of their own prior to selecting mates and nesting sites.
That’s a sign that while amphibian romance is already heavy in the air (courtesy of the peepers and wood frogs soon to follow suit) avian love is also in play. In years past I’ve observed red shouldered hawks in courtship display in the skies above my Northbrook home. It’s a noisy February affair with these buteo raptors calling and screeching as the male zooms skyward, then comes hurtling down like a peregrine on the hunt, diving, soaring, and wheeling above their nesting territory.
But by now most birds of prey are already nesting, incubating, hatching eggs, and/or tending chicks. To this end the Pennsylvania Game Commission is once again streaming bald eagle nesting activity live from Hanover, Pa. The female laid her first egg back on Feb. 10, the second on Feb. 13. Estimated date for the first hatch is on March 17. Check out the live streaming at https:// hdontap.com/index.php/ video. In addition to the Hanover eagles, you’ll also find live streaming broadcast at this site from the nests of peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawks, screech owls, great horned owls, ospreys and others.
While birds of prey are among the first to mate, nest, and lay their eggs, waterfowl and songbirds will soon follow. So now is the time to set out any nesting boxes for ducks, martins, wrens, bluebirds, and others if you haven’t already. While our canal-side purple martin house in Ocean City, Md. will soon be inundated with these large swallows, the martins have thus far ignored the pond-side apartment we erected here in Northbrook. Only a few pairs of tree swallows and English sparrows have set up shop there the past two years.
Last week we observed a pair of wood ducks visiting our pond here as they do each spring. We’ve erected two wood duck nesting boxes that these beautiful waterfowl have occupied in seasons past and hope they’ll do the same this spring. Last year our pond was briefly home to a pair of mallards that attempted to nest in a patch of high grass along the bank. Unfortunately, after the hen had laid a few eggs, predators (raccoons are the usual suspects) marauded the nest, consumed the eggs, and the ducks abandoned the scene. I don’t know if the mallards will return this year, but in case they do I’ve erected another nesting box specifically designed to accommodate them. We’ll see if it gets any use this year.
With the opening of our regional trout season just two weeks away on April first and our regional Mentored Youth Trout Day set for March 25, another rite of spring gets underway as local angling clubs gear up for the big day.
KIDS’ FISHING CLINIC
The Brandywine Trout and Conservation Club will hold its annual Free Kids’ Fishing Clinic this Saturday, March 18,from 9:00 a.m. to noon. This clinic will feature various fishing seminars, videos, and “how to” demonstrations. Along with fishing “grab bags” and door prizes. Hot dogs and sodas will also be provided. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to bring family and friends. The event will be held at the Moose Lodge #1153 on Rt. 30 in Downingtown (across from the train station). Parking is available in the west end of the Moose parking lot.
TROUT UNLIMITED TROUT SHOW SATURDAY
The Valley Forge Chapter of trout Unlimited will host their 2017 Annual Trout Show this Saturday, March 18, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Great Valley High School, 225 Phoenixville Pike in Malvern. This year’s edition of the show will feature Bob Romano, author of several fly fishing-oriented novels set in Western Maine’s Rangeley Lakes area. Bob will present a program on fishing for native and wild brook trout in this rugged and beautiful part of our country. The show also features raffles, rods, reels, art work, environmental displays, flyfishing school signups, freshwater and saltwater flies for sale and much more. The event is free and open to the public.