Field Notes: early March birds, blooms & ballads
While spring has not yet officially sprung, the preserves are already increasingly active. Spring wildflowers are beginning to bloom and wildlife is returning. As hikers do the same, they’re capturing images and video of the hullabaloo. Enjoy these sights and sounds of early March from ACRES preserves across our region.
Skunk cabbage in bloom at Ropchan Wildlife Refuge, March 4, by Greg Burns 
A male Hooded Merganser, on the Robert C. and Rosella C. Johnson Nature Preserve, March 6 by Evan Hill 
A Pileated woodpecker in flight at Ropchan Wildlife Refuge, March 4, by Greg Burns 
Hepatica, perhaps triloba, in bloom in Fogwell Forest, early March, by Evan Hill 
A female Hooded Merganser, on the Robert C. and Rosella C. Johnson Nature Preserve, March 6 by Evan Hill 
A Red-shouldered on the Robert C. and Rosella C. Johnson Nature Preserve, March 7, by Evan Hill
In video: March 7, 2016 | The sounds of frogs on the Robert C. and Rosella C. Johnson Nature Preserve:
March 7, 2016 | More of the frog chorus on the Tom and Jane Dustin Nature Preserve:
Can you hear two distinct frog calls? The call that resembles a horse on cobblestone is the mink frog. The western chorus frog is the other call you hear. Of course, video does not do justice to the experience of being in the preserve while the full chorus is going on. We’ve heard from many office visitors that they can hear the raucous cacophony through their rolled-up car windows. It’s so much louder from the trail!
Update 3/9/17: We stand corrected. It’s not easy to identify frog calls, especially from video. Instead of mink frogs, which are not common to our area, we think you’re hearing wood frogs and the western chorus frog. If you see an identification we may have gotten wrong, please do let us know. Many thanks!
Come out to see – and hear – for yourself. Happy trails!
