April 21

The late morning temperatures are in the low 50’s, under partly sunny skies as I hike the bank of the Pine River on the north boundary of Alma’s Conservation Park, listening to the songs of a nearby Northern Cardinal and a male Redwing Blackbird (no females yet to be seen). With the sun at my back, I move from a paved to an earthen trail, looking in vain for any green growth of spring.  Up ahead, I observe a couple of Painted Turtles on a log basking in the sun. Their mating season lasts from April to June. The male courts the female in a ritual involving stroking her head with the back of the long claws on his front feet. The female in turn strokes his front legs with her claws. After mating, the female digs a nest in soil a few feet from the edge of the water. Turning left, I follow a trail along the park’s west boundary listening to another Northern Cardinal. Up ahead, I watch a Pileated Woodpecker fly silently overhead and perch in a distant tree. After passing a large Shagbark Hickory tree, I’m relieved to finally see some green as new leaves begin to emerge on a Honeysuckle shrub. Turning left again, I move past one of many vernal ponds along the park’s south boundary where Chorus frogs are calling loud and clear. The sound of this tiny amphibian (stock photo) is not a simple croak, but more of a fine-toothed comb being stroked or a nail scraping across a comb. Up ahead, in the distance, I get a brief glance at a group of Wood ducks, including a very colorful male. After coming upon a standing Whitetail deer camouflaged against a green-less, wooded background, I turn left again to follow the park’s eastern boundary where I pause to observe the midden of a Red Squirrel. Middens are large piles of food scraps, including pinecones around the base of an evergreen tree. Unlike Fox Squirrels that store food underground in the winter, Red Squirrels gather and store food sources in these central locations. Continuing on an earthen trail among many dead and dying evergreen trees, I spot an 8-inch, juvenile Garter Snake, motionless among the leaf litter.  Up ahead, I pass through a grove of mature Red Pine Trees while being greeted by a Blue Jay. Heading back to the car, I’m not surprised to see a few small, male Boxelder trees beginning to flower. Since these trees are dioecious, female Boxelder trees produce a different looking flower (stock photo).

Remembering Earth Day (April 22)

 

Mother Earth, child of the sun

You are a very special one

Water to drink, air to breathe

Life abounds on land and sea

Some worlds are far too cold

Living things cannot take hold

Some worlds are way too hot

Uninhabitable at every spot

Mother Earth, dwelling place

Rightful region in outer space

Sphere of white, sphere of blue

We dedicate this day to you

 

D. DeGraaf