Midland Chorus Frogs

Back in April, we were surrounded by the deafening sound of spring peepers (frogs) from our marsh. Now that the marsh has drastically receded and has been overtaken by bull rushes and numerous types of water plants, we have seen an abundance of frogs around.

One that we commonly see is the Midland Chorus frog, a rather attractive brown frog of about 3 cm in length with stripes running down its back. These little guys have large toe pads I guess like tree frogs so they would be adept at clinging. Their habitat ranges from dry to sunny and swampy areas - of which I have seen them both (in the marsh and hopping in the grassy yard). These hoppy little guys really peak the curiosity of my dogs. They don't seem to be too sure whether to try and grab them or run away from them.

Fireflies

Tonight we have the most amazing display of fireflies over the marsh. It's really fascinating to watch these quick flashing dots dart across the night. I remember seeing these in eastern Ontario as a little girl, so it brought back memories of trying to catch them back in the day. Some nights I think my eyes are playing tricks on me but I now know that the fireflies really are here. Tonight there are so many! Blinking, flashing dots of light over the dark, croaking wetlands.

Snapping Turtle

The past few days has been turtle-mania around here. Today alone I rescued a Midland Painted from basking into oblivion in the middle of the road. And I watched the same sunbathing on the side hill of our marsh. A couple of nights ago, we had a very large Snapping turtle relaxing on our front lawn. After visiting her with curiosity and a flashlight, we kept wondering why she had suddenly appeared. About an hour later, we noticed she was dug into part of our gravel driveway. She was laying eggs! What an amazing sight to witness. Every few minutes we would see her back end sink into the gravel while her head would lift high and we'd hear a slight crunching sound while her back leg would swoosh away liquid. By morning the 'hole' was patched up and looked much the same. Only we now know there are turtle eggs maturing in that spot. The eggs will take 9-18 weeks to hatch. This will put us into late fall. And then I wonder how they will survive with the cold weather approaching.

Midland Painted Turtles

Who would think that much of anything could live in what looks like stagnant, rusty-colored water? Turtles for one. Yesterday we had a Midland Painted Turtle in our driveway near the house. It must have walked for some time to come up that far. I took some pictures of course and examined it closely. Turtles are fascinating and so prehistoric. The Midland Painted is about 10-25 cm in length (I think ours was closer to 25cm). It has an olive-colored shell and the outer sides of the shell have these terrific red lines. The neck, head, feet and tail are dark olive with yellow lines on them. He really was a cute little guy. I found out that these turtles are very common in southern Ontario and their habitat is one of slow moving rivers, ponds and marshes with soft bottoms. They also like to sunbathe on logs in the water.

Burgundy Trilliums

We recently discovered trillium on our hilly property. I had been searching through the woodland floor for some weeks now in hopes of seeing these white 3 pointed flowers without much luck. Then my son discovered a burgundy colored trillium near some old logs. I was amazed, as I never knew that trilliums (the provincial flower of Ontario) actually come in many different colors (red, purple, yellow, pink and white). The blooms first start in early spring and continue into late spring. This perennial plant is herbaceous and always has one whorl of 3 leaves. Trilliums cannot take full sunlight and may take years to reproduce seeds. As deer like to nibble the leaves, it is a wonder that any survive. Historically, Native Indians used trilliums for medicinal purposes. I found out today from a local nursery that the red variety are less common...so I consider us lucky to have seen this little beauty.

Mosquitoes

It's so beautiful to see how the land has just blossomed into colorful life in the past month and a half. Today was a beautiful warm, sunny day. The scent of lilacs wafted through the air. The only really bad thing right now is the amount of mosquitoes that fill the air. We can't go out for any length of time before being swarmed by mosquitoes and tiny flies. They are just horrible. We bought a machine that is supposed to attract and "vacuum" in the little beasts, but I'm not really convinced that it works. There are so many bug catchers on the market, but I haven't yet figured out the cure for mosquitoes. My husband's legs are raw with bite marks. I guess as the marsh waters recede, the situation will lessen. But in the meanwhile, it's definitely time to put up some kind of netting on the deck so that we can go out for more than a minute without being bitten.

Groundhog

Last week we had a new visitor to the property - a baby groundhog. I never knew much about groundhogs but apparently they are very solitary creatures. I found out that they are vegetarians. I think that maybe something happened to its mother or he is now being left to fend for himself. Either way, we first spotted him walking across the driveway, and then slinking down the hill into the marsh for a swim. He twisted and turned much the way an otter would. He was precious to watch swimming between the water reeds and plants. When I took this picture, he had just awoken from a morning nap in our hillside woods. The dogs were the first to discover him.

Here's the little guy waking up from his nap - caught in mid yawn! Say cheese!