Spring Awakening Everywhere

SPRING AWAKENING EVERYWHERE  

April/May, 2014 issue  
Expressions  like “old fashioned winter” and “winters of my youth” became  obsolete  terms this past season after enduring the hardest winter in memory. In   Prince Edward County, almost daily snow squalls off Lake Ontario kept   snowblowers and shovels busy, and frigid temperatures created ice like  never  before on Lake Ontario. Birds that chose to challenge the rigours  of winter,  instead of migrating, began to regret their decision. Many  waterfowl species  tumbled onto driveways, parking lots, town streets  and open fields, overcome by  starvation and exhaustion. Near Brighton,  one popular watering hole for  waterfowl became littered with the bodies  of over 20 dead swans that had  succumbed to the horrific conditions. 
  
 We  learned new terms like “polar vortex” and “frost quakes”, the latter   frightening residents from their homes in the middle of the night to see  what  had hit their house. It was a winter that will not soon be  forgotten. I cannot  remember when I have been on snowshoes in any one  winter as much. As I write  this on March 9th, deep snow and thick ice  still prevail. The temperature two  mornings ago was minus 26 degrees  Celsius. We need to assume that winter will  continue however, until it  decides that it is finished. By the time this is  being read, we hope  that the snow and much of the ice will have disappeared, and  more  spring like conditions will have arrived.
  
 There  is a remote crossroad, known as Kaiser, just a 40-minute drive from   where I live, that we always visit in March and April and into May. It  is a sure  sign that winter is on the wane and spring is in the offing  as we pull to the  roadside and set up our spotting scopes. The  cornfields along this crossroad,  not far from Prinyer’s Cove almost  directly across from the Lennox Generating  Plant near Bath, become  flooded every spring and today attract avid birders from  across eastern  Ontario to witness the proliferation of waterfowl that come to  feed.  Up to 20 species can be found here, some of them in alarming numbers.  One  spring, there were over 800 Northern Pintails feeding in these  flooded corn  fields, an exceptionally high population for a species  that we seldom see in  such numbers anywhere in the province. Three  years ago, one birder was surprised  to see 600 snow geese feeding in  the corn stubble on some of the higher ground.   An amazing spot, these  Kaiser Crossroad corn fields. 
  
 As  the water dissipates later in April, the mudflats then begin to attract   shorebirds. It takes a while to spot them amongst the corn stubble,  but a good  spotting scope will usually produce numerous species as they  make their way to  the sub-Arctic tundra to nest. The Kaiser Crossroad  corn field is just a  refuelling station for them. Among them will be  the odd rarity such as the  Wilson’s phalarope we found one May, and the  year before that it was a ruff, an  Old World species that is  considered only casual in Ontario.
  
 With  the ice succumbing to warmer days, there are other signs of a spring   awakening too as the season advances. The first chorus frog sometimes  can be  heard singing as early as mid-March.  One memorable spring in  mid-March, there  were five species of frogs calling away in collective  happiness at Frontenac  Provincial Park, likely a record for that early  in the season. This is good news  for volunteers with the Marsh  Monitoring Program, a venture that I have had the  pleasure of  coordinating in the Bay of Quinte area since 2002.
  
 One  by one, as the air and water temperature increases, more frog species   join the chorus. However, the chorus and wood frogs are explosive  breeders,  exploiting the flooded ditches and vernal pools created by  snow melt and spring  rains. Once their season draws to a close and the  water warms up even more, then  it is time for the spring peepers,  leopard frogs and American toads to start  calling. Bullfrogs and green  frogs prefer their surroundings to be near room  temperature, and they  won’t start calling until much later, usually by  mid-June.
  
 There  are some 24 frog and toad species in Canada; however, in eastern   Ontario, we have only 10 species. Pickerel frogs are seldom encountered  and seem  to prefer colder streams and lake shores. The mink frog is  restricted to more  northern areas and I find their staccato calls  almost synonymous with Algonquin  Park. However, they are moving south  from their normal range and I have heard  them calling as far south as  Madoc and at Frontenac Park, but the chances of  them moving much  farther south are slim as these anurans prefer the cooler  northern  waters.
  
 Spring  is coming, however late it may be this year. But, come it will, as  it  always does. Then, it will be the warblers in May and winter will be but  a  bad memory and will soon fade as wildflowers display a riot of  colour, birds  arrive in their customary spring waves, and butterflies  begin to flutter around  our nectar feeders. Turkey vultures once again  will be circling on the thermals  and tundra swans passing through from  their wintering grounds at Chesapeake Bay  to their northern nesting  grounds.  Insects and, of course, mosquitoes.
  
 Hikers  who are out enjoying the better weather in April and May should   consider inserting something else in their pockets along with the water  bottle  and snacks – their tick puller! It seems a bit early to be  worried about ticks  and we generally don’t see any sign of them until  mid-April, but all it takes  are a few nice warm, sunshiny days to  activate them. 
  
 Ticks,  turkey vultures, tundra swans and toads. It’s all happening right  now,  so get out there and experience the offerings of spring. And try to  forget  the winter that was.
  
 For more information on birding and nature and guided hikes, check out the  NatureStuff website at www.naturestuff.net 
  
 Terry Sprague lives in Prince Edward County and is self-employed as a  professional interpretive naturalist.