Goosepond Mountain Created Wetlands, 17 March 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Ginny posted an invitation to meet her at the wetlands at Goosepond Mountain at 11am today to see if we could find any leprechauns. It was a gorgeous day... sunny and almost 50 degrees. How could anyone not want to go outside today???

We've heard the Spring Peepers for almost a week now, signaling the promise of warm weather and more opportunities for outdoor adventures. Six families headed along the path to the first pond, children cupping hands to ears to take in the chorus of frogs singing about spring. Oddly, as we reached the water's edge, the world became silent... those frogs must have thought we had our nets with us today. We did not, and in a few minutes a couple of brave peepers took the chance and chirped again... and the chorus resumed.

We looked for the Caddisfly larvae that Lorin spotted at this time last year, but we didn't see anything in the water except for a few snails. Jacob and Adam spotted several Water Spiders, zipping on the surface of the pond as if it was still frozen.

While Penelope lounged in the dirt, Sybil and Olivia spotted something new. Sybil held what looked like a seed pod or an egg case. It was a long, thin, partly hollow cylindrical tube she picked up at the top of the little hill between the two boardwalks. We inspected it, feeling it and looking around the area where it was found. We spotted another piece of this thing poking out of the last bit of the dead stem of the big Pokeweed bush. Peeling back the outer covering of the stem revealed more of this odd-looking cylinder.

We hung around the spot between the boardwalks for a while, talking about preschools and gardening and digital cameras, and digging in the dirt. The rumblings of some little tummies and curiosity about "the big kids" prompted us to continue along the path. Nathan and Sebastian had been active in the woods alongside the Buttonbush swamp, busy with a project of seemingly great importance. As I walked up to Lily waiting patiently near the Buttonbush placquard (she needed me for our ritual "lift-me-up-so-I-can-see-the-picture" activity), I heard it, and shouted, "LISTEN!" The pause in traffic along 17M allowed everyone else to pick up the odd "quack-quack-quack" of the Wood Frog! Eyeballs bulging and cameras out, we moved to the edge of the swamp... and there they were, almost two weeks early. Ripples in the water as they called gave away the usually camouflaged location of the floating frogs. They float on their bellies, legs spread behind them. Squinting helped combat the reflection of the sky in the water. We got several pictures and movies of the quacking calls. Two Eastern Bluebirds landed on the branches above us as we listened to the Wood Frogs. We walked over to see the structure that Nathan and Sebastian built, pausing for more pictures of the proud architects posing with their construction. We continued walking towards our cars, pausing only to watch the bees visit the flowers of the skunk cabbage. We are convinced spring is here. Happy St. Patrick's Day!