Toadally Terrific!

A Male and Female American Toad in Amplexus

Well, we have proof that American toads do not read the local newspaper. Despite our advertising a Toad Walk for Saturday, the featured amphibians did not show up at Goose Pond Mountain State Park until Sunday. The two day stretch of high sixties weather drew them out for quite a party. I heard a few males singing between ten and eleven am. Between eleven and my return to the pond at one-thirty pm, thirty to forty toads had joined them and all the females were busy laying their long necklaces of eggs (see the lines of black dots in photo).

Toad Couple Surfacing Under Strands of Eggs

April brings more than just showers!

Alex checks out the newly emerged painted turtle.
Our April rambles bring sightings of toads, turtles, early butterflies, salamanders, and wildflowers. It is an exciting month of change, and you'd better get outdoors every day or you might miss something.

This darling reptile is the size of a quarter. The underside is a brilliant orangey-red, especially around the shell margins. This individual was travelling over the ground, probably from the underground nest where he or she spent the winter.

At another Goose Pond Mountain location (the Fire Hydrant Trail) we found pink-tinted dutchman's breeches blooming (if you turn them upside-down they'd look like pants). Their nectaries are so deep that only bumblebees have tongues long enough to reach the nectar.

This fabulous bloodroot (named, obviously, after the color of its root) is not yet open. The flowers last only a day or two before dropping their petals. Like many spring ephemerals, the seeds are dispersed by ants.

Trout-lily is also abloom. These nodding yellow flowers are also partially closed. The trout-lily has speckled leaves that are said to resemble the sides of trout.

Acadia says goodbye to the turtle and the toads.
Is three hours long enough to spend beside the pond on such a bountiful day? Alas, all good things must come to an end. With the turtle safely ensconced in the water and the toads carrying on with their egg laying, we left them in Mother Nature's capable hands and headed home.