May 23rd, 2007
eastern ontario nature blogs
As mentioned yesterday, things are really picking up around here. I’m seeing many creatures wherever I look. The bird feeders have been very active, with many Goldfinches, Purple Finches, Cardinals, Chickadees and various sparrows. There are Spring Peepers calling from the drainage creek and American Toads trilling from all around in the evening, and Gray Treefrogs (Hyla versicolor) calling and making occasional appearances in the bushes around the house quite regularly. That’s one of them perched on my finger in the above photo, and the same frog on the palm of my hand to the left. As you can see, this one is quite small – body length approxiately 3 cm. If you look closely at the photo on the left (click on it for a larger view), you’ll see the bright yellow inner leg markings that are one of the identifying features of this species, although they’re seldom seen unless you happen to find one of these frogs sticking to the outside of a window as it hunts for moths in the evening. Anyhow, yes, it’s busy around here and I’ve already managed to accumulate a backlog of photos to be sorted and ID’d, so there will be plenty coming up in the next few weeks.
Okay, back to the topic of this post. I just wanted to pass along some links to other eastern Ontario nature-related blogs for those who might be interested. All three blogs are the creations of members of the NatureList – Eastern Ontario Natural History list-serve, to which I also belong. The first two are new blogs on the block:
The first is thenaturejournal.com, created by Aleta Karstad, a renowned artist and author, who, with husband, Dr. Fred Schueler, operates the Bishops Mills Natural History Centre. Aleta is no stranger to writing a nature journal, as she has been keeping illustrated journals for much of her life. Keeping a nature blog would seem to be a natural extension. Please do drop by to visit her new blog and take some time to view her art at some of the links provided.
Chelsea’s Blog is another new addition to the eastern Ontario blogosphere. It’s already off to a great start with a nice post about a Ring Neck Snake, and another about baby Painted Turtles. Also a longtime participant on the NatureList, the author is interested in nature photography, so you’ll find plenty of nice photos to view.
The final blog doesn’t really need an introduction, as it’s been around for awhile and is, no doubt, known to many of you. However, I did want to mention Thomasburg Walks in this post as Pamela Martin is another longtime member of the NatureList here in eastern Ontario. An avid naturalist and photographer, her blog also highlights some of the best nature in our region.
Well, it’s too nice to remain indoors. My camera batteries are all charged up and I’m ready to go, so I’m off to do a bit of walking around the fields and woods before settling down to transplant tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in the vegetable garden. Btw, for those of you looking for an update on Sabrina, she’s coming along well. She returns to the vet to have the staples removed and some follow-up blood work later this week. Yesterday morning, she gave me “the look” to let me know that she wanted to go for a bit longer walk than our recent tours around the garden, so we took a leisurely stroll along one of the shorter trail loops near the house. I took her photo while she waited for me to finish up photographing some bees on apple blossoms. She seems to be looking better every day.
Tags: Gray Treefrog, Hyla versicolor, thenaturejournal.com, Chelsea’s Blog, Thomasburg Walks
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:20 am
I’m always amazed that you not only find the tree frogs, but that you get them to sit on your hand. What a sweet little frog, and those handsome yellow legs! Yes, spring has definitely brought out every critter high and low, and from what I can tell, everyone is busy eating. There are ravenous appetites out there.
Absolutely wonderful to see Sabrina looking so healthy and beautiful. I’m so happy for her and for you and don.
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Oh, bless her little heart! It’s so good to know she’s doing better. Whew.
Now – regarding those tree frog pictures. I so wish I’d had the courage and sense to examine the tree frog I found in the woods a few weeks ago. What’s with the yellow? I’m always questioning why nature selected a vivid color like that for the underside of an otherwise very well camouflaged critter.
And those window shots! Those pads – very interesting. When you contemplate the elaborate adaptations – it just boggles the mind. I try to wrap my mind around the oceans of time required. Not possible.
You’ve got Spring Peepers. Ours have been gone for a least a couple weeks. Enjoy it, Bev. It’s so ephemeral and so beautiful.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:16 pm
robin – what can i say… these treefrogs like to stick to me! I’ve had them hop onto my shoulder or my head when I’m outside the front door trying to photograph moths at night. I guess they think I make a great staging area for that big leap on the wall to capture a moth!
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Cathy – Yes, Sabrina seems to be doing better. Her appetite is fairly good now and I think she’s put on some weight. I should find out tomorrow when I take her to have the staples removed as they usually weigh her when we get to the clinic.
Regarding the frogs -well, don’t be nervous around them. They are harmless, and if you’re worried about harming them, they should be okay so long as you aren’t wearing a mosquito repellent. If you are, you should not touch a frog as they’re very sensitive to such things. I have no idea about the function of the yellow markings. They’re usually not too visible, so I don’t know what purpose they could serve.
Yes to the ephemeral quality of the various frog calls. I often think that as we seem to rapidly move along through the season.
May 24th, 2007 at 5:00 am
Thanks for the note on new blogs. It occurs to me that I have not seen the “Nature list” lately. I guess it fell victim to my change of e-mail address and I forgot in all the confusion. I shall have to get that sorted out. (I’ve been a fan of Aleta Karstad since I found her first book years ago. Glad to see that she is starting a blog.)
May 24th, 2007 at 6:46 am
Call me silly, but I’m pleased to see and hear that Sabrina is doing better.
May 24th, 2007 at 7:48 am
OW – Yes, do get yourself back on the NatureList as there are plenty of discussions about sightings at this time of the year!
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pablo – I won’t call you silly. I feel the same way! (-:
May 24th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Thanks Bev. I have a few friends back in eastern ON who are becoming more interested all the time in the natural outdoors, I’ll pass the links along if they miss this post, but I sent your link along a while back and I know atleast a few read regularly so I may not have too :-)
May 24th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Peter – Thanks for spreading the word. I’m finding that there seems to be a growing number of people interesting in nature, ecology and the outdoors. That’s a very nice trend to see.
May 24th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
It is nice to see the numbers of nature bloggers in our corner of the world grow!