Nature Watch
By Susan Thurn,
Cable Natural History Museum
Little Frog with a Big Voice
“Peep, peep, peep,” is the incessant voice of a little frog with a very big voice. It is a sound I look forward to every spring. The spring peeper is light brown in color with a darker cross that forms an X on its back. With a length of one to one and half inches long, and a weight that is only that of about a penny, they are amazing amphibians. The peeping sound they make in the spring is worth a trip outdoors on any warmer night.
Spring Peepers are first heard in March or April, once the ground is thawed enough by early spring rains, or as snowmelt fills lowlands, ponds and wetlands. These vernal, spring-time ponds and other wetlands are the host to these peepers that spend other parts of the year in forests near their permanent or semi-permanent wetlands. Woodland ponds that are filled with shrubs, branches and twigs above and in the water are preferred areas as well, where they can grasp on branches or cling to the edges.
It is only the male peepers that have a vocal sac near its throat that expands and deflates like a balloon to create the distinct peeping sound. They use the sound to attract the ladies. Male spring peepers call out from their perches in the brush or on grass edges, above the water to attract female attention. When we come close, they hop in for safety.
Dusk and early morning hours are preferred times for spring peeping. Their calls can be heard from up to two and one half miles away depending on the amount of peepers in the pond. One small pond typically has hundreds of individuals all in one place, making a very loud sound!
When eggs are laid, one spring peeper female can lay up to 1,000 eggs which are hidden at the water’s base near vegetation. For the next 8 weeks the young feed on algae or other organisms in the water as they go through the larval tadpole stage.
Spring peepers are active nocturnally, where they feed on invertebrates like worms, spiders, and insects such as flies, beetles, or ants. Although they are considered a treefrog and have toe pads to allow them to grasp on to trees, they usually do not climb higher than our knees.
Because they are cold-blooded, spring peepers go through a form of hibernation. Parts of their bodies will freeze and have ice crystals in them. However, spring peepers can produce glucose in their livers, a sugar that acts like anti-freeze. This glucose is pumped to their heart and lungs so they can survive even sub-zero temperatures.
When is the best time for one of those evening peeper strolls? Spring peepers will call down to a temperature of about 36 degrees Fahrenheit, so almost any night is a good night to enjoy these great amphibians in our back yards!
For over 42 years, the Museum has served as a guide and mentor to generations of visitors and residents interested in learning to better appreciate and care for the extraordinary natural resources of the region. The Museum invites you to visit its facility in Cable at 13470 County Highway M. The new exhibit, The Joy of Birds, Feathers in Focus opens May 3rd, 2011. Find us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org to learn more about our exhibits and programs. Also discover us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org, on Facebook, or at our blogspot, http://cablemuseumnaturewatch.blogspot.com/ to learn more about our exhibits and programs.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Every Moment Matters
Nature Watch
By Susan Thurn,
Cable Natural History Museum
Saturday brought my first Eastern phoebe, the first sound I heard when I awoke. Sunday I experienced my first deer tick. Monday I saw two sandhill cranes fly overhead. Tuesday I saw a wolf and my first butterfly of the season, a Compton’s tortoiseshell. Wednesday my husband saw his first bear of the season and I tasted the first spring’s maple sap from a friend’s maple sugar bush. Thursday a northern flicker flew away from the roadside as I drove home. Friday a turkey vulture flew overhead, looking as if it was sauntering north to wherever it calls it’s second home.
Today in school we went outdoors to watch and listen. Red-winged blackbirds were singing everywhere as they are migrating through. Large flocks of slate-colored juncos were swarming through in their migration. Grackles were flying from tree to tree.
Others excited by spring’s changes have told me of their observations as well. Trumpeter swans are migrating through our area. Loons are back on many of our area lakes. Water birds like northern shovelers, American coots, mallard, redhead, and wood ducks can all be observed on bodies of water. Chipmunks are out of hibernation. Song sparrows, kingfishers, kestrels, and tree swallows are all returning.
I have tasted the sweetness of spring, smelled the earth’s soils, stood in the year’s first rains with raindrops coating my face, and listened to the music of the frogs and birds. Every new observation, even for the forty-second time, (give or take a couple of years,) is a wonder each and every time. I am a phenologist, someone who joins many others every season in watching nature’s changes.
Every Act Matters. This is one of the themes for this year’s Earth Day, which takes place every year on April 22. Become a phenologist. Get outdoors on Earth Day and every day, and see what can be observed in our new spring. Enjoy what is in our north woods back yard. Care and protect everything we can. Every act, every moment matters!
For over 42 years, the Museum has served as a guide and mentor to generations of visitors and residents interested in learning to better appreciate and care for the extraordinary natural resources of the region. The Museum invites you to visit its facility in Cable at 13470 County Highway M. Also find us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org to learn more about our exhibits and programs. Also discover us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org, on Facebook, or at our blogspot, http://cablemuseumnaturewatch.blogspot.com/ to learn more about our exhibits and programs.
By Susan Thurn,
Cable Natural History Museum
Saturday brought my first Eastern phoebe, the first sound I heard when I awoke. Sunday I experienced my first deer tick. Monday I saw two sandhill cranes fly overhead. Tuesday I saw a wolf and my first butterfly of the season, a Compton’s tortoiseshell. Wednesday my husband saw his first bear of the season and I tasted the first spring’s maple sap from a friend’s maple sugar bush. Thursday a northern flicker flew away from the roadside as I drove home. Friday a turkey vulture flew overhead, looking as if it was sauntering north to wherever it calls it’s second home.
Today in school we went outdoors to watch and listen. Red-winged blackbirds were singing everywhere as they are migrating through. Large flocks of slate-colored juncos were swarming through in their migration. Grackles were flying from tree to tree.
Others excited by spring’s changes have told me of their observations as well. Trumpeter swans are migrating through our area. Loons are back on many of our area lakes. Water birds like northern shovelers, American coots, mallard, redhead, and wood ducks can all be observed on bodies of water. Chipmunks are out of hibernation. Song sparrows, kingfishers, kestrels, and tree swallows are all returning.
I have tasted the sweetness of spring, smelled the earth’s soils, stood in the year’s first rains with raindrops coating my face, and listened to the music of the frogs and birds. Every new observation, even for the forty-second time, (give or take a couple of years,) is a wonder each and every time. I am a phenologist, someone who joins many others every season in watching nature’s changes.
Every Act Matters. This is one of the themes for this year’s Earth Day, which takes place every year on April 22. Become a phenologist. Get outdoors on Earth Day and every day, and see what can be observed in our new spring. Enjoy what is in our north woods back yard. Care and protect everything we can. Every act, every moment matters!
For over 42 years, the Museum has served as a guide and mentor to generations of visitors and residents interested in learning to better appreciate and care for the extraordinary natural resources of the region. The Museum invites you to visit its facility in Cable at 13470 County Highway M. Also find us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org to learn more about our exhibits and programs. Also discover us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org, on Facebook, or at our blogspot, http://cablemuseumnaturewatch.blogspot.com/ to learn more about our exhibits and programs.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Gray Jay
Nature Watch
By Susan Thurn,
Cable Natural History Museum
Friends of mine who are members of the Museum, suggested that the Canada, or gray jay was worth writing about, and after researching them more, I have to agree. Gray jays are residents of northern Wisconsin, but tend to be more common in more remote areas. They prefer habitats that include black or white spruce, or jack pine. It is believed that cold temperatures are a key requirement of habitat to ensure that these birds will survive.
Gray jays have an amazing adaptation, the ability to use glands in their beak to secrete a mucous, or sticky saliva. Using their saliva they glue together groups of berries or other perishable food and wedge it into the bark of trees. The bird is preferential to certain tree species simply because the bark is designed with scales that hold the food better. The colder temperatures mixed with antibacterial properties of the trees work to keep the food from spoiling. The jays will cache thousands of food objects during the summer for their winter use.
During the warm months, gray jays eat beetles, wasps, caterpillars, grasshoppers, or other insects or arthropods. They also eat small rodents, nestling birds, eggs, berries and fruit. They have even been observed eating fungi and slime molds. Sometimes they will eat their prey live. Gray jays also have been observed feeding on engorged ticks off of moose.
Gray jays are often called camp robbers because of their behavior of stealing human food. They will enter tents or camp buildings in order to steal food. They then leave quickly to eat or store their food some place else.
Another interesting feature about the gray or Canada jay is that they begin nesting much earlier than other birds, right now in March and April. Scientists believe that nesting now might provide an advantage for the adults while they still have winter food cached to feed their young.
However, what happens after they leave the nest is a surprise. At first, the siblings huddle together to share their warmth, but five weeks out of their nest they begin to fight, and the dominant youth will push the siblings out of their territory. The “boss” juvenile will then stay with their parents through the next winter, learning, being protected, and benefiting from adult food supplies. The “brothers” and “sisters” then experience a mortality rate of 80%, most of them dying by fall.
Get outdoors and listen for the soft, harsh, "cha-cha-cha-cah” calls, or the whistled “whee-oo.” Look for the large gray songbird with a long tail, pale gray face and forehead, and a dark cap that extends down onto its cheek. Maybe you will be fortunate enough to see one in your own back yard!
For over 42 years, the Museum has served as a guide and mentor to generations of visitors and residents interested in learning to better appreciate and care for the extraordinary natural resources of the region. The Museum invites you to visit its facility and exhibit, On Lake Owen: The Art of Walter Bohl, in Cable at 13470 County Highway M. Or find us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org, discover us on Facebook, or at our blogspot, http://cablemuseumnaturewatch.blogspot.com/ to learn more about our exhibits and programs.
By Susan Thurn,
Cable Natural History Museum
Friends of mine who are members of the Museum, suggested that the Canada, or gray jay was worth writing about, and after researching them more, I have to agree. Gray jays are residents of northern Wisconsin, but tend to be more common in more remote areas. They prefer habitats that include black or white spruce, or jack pine. It is believed that cold temperatures are a key requirement of habitat to ensure that these birds will survive.
Gray jays have an amazing adaptation, the ability to use glands in their beak to secrete a mucous, or sticky saliva. Using their saliva they glue together groups of berries or other perishable food and wedge it into the bark of trees. The bird is preferential to certain tree species simply because the bark is designed with scales that hold the food better. The colder temperatures mixed with antibacterial properties of the trees work to keep the food from spoiling. The jays will cache thousands of food objects during the summer for their winter use.
During the warm months, gray jays eat beetles, wasps, caterpillars, grasshoppers, or other insects or arthropods. They also eat small rodents, nestling birds, eggs, berries and fruit. They have even been observed eating fungi and slime molds. Sometimes they will eat their prey live. Gray jays also have been observed feeding on engorged ticks off of moose.
Gray jays are often called camp robbers because of their behavior of stealing human food. They will enter tents or camp buildings in order to steal food. They then leave quickly to eat or store their food some place else.
Another interesting feature about the gray or Canada jay is that they begin nesting much earlier than other birds, right now in March and April. Scientists believe that nesting now might provide an advantage for the adults while they still have winter food cached to feed their young.
However, what happens after they leave the nest is a surprise. At first, the siblings huddle together to share their warmth, but five weeks out of their nest they begin to fight, and the dominant youth will push the siblings out of their territory. The “boss” juvenile will then stay with their parents through the next winter, learning, being protected, and benefiting from adult food supplies. The “brothers” and “sisters” then experience a mortality rate of 80%, most of them dying by fall.
Get outdoors and listen for the soft, harsh, "cha-cha-cha-cah” calls, or the whistled “whee-oo.” Look for the large gray songbird with a long tail, pale gray face and forehead, and a dark cap that extends down onto its cheek. Maybe you will be fortunate enough to see one in your own back yard!
For over 42 years, the Museum has served as a guide and mentor to generations of visitors and residents interested in learning to better appreciate and care for the extraordinary natural resources of the region. The Museum invites you to visit its facility and exhibit, On Lake Owen: The Art of Walter Bohl, in Cable at 13470 County Highway M. Or find us on the web at www.cablemuseum.org, discover us on Facebook, or at our blogspot, http://cablemuseumnaturewatch.blogspot.com/ to learn more about our exhibits and programs.
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