Notes on Some Spring Nature Programs

Spring is finally here, and the Allegany State Park naturalist staff will be offering nature walks on Fridays and Saturdays throughout May and June.  Many program titles are familiar — beavers, Thunder Rocks, and wildflowers, but some offerings with a spring theme are planned, as well.  One of these is the slide show, “Wild Travellers,” about the migration of birds.  The program explores some strange old myths about birds, and some of the stranger truths about where birds go, and what triggers their return.

A program in the planning stage is “Crepuscular Creatures” about the animals and birds that are most active at dusk and dawn.  Deer, beavers, and bats are the most familiar, but one bird is especially conspicuous on spring evenings.  This is the American Woodcock, seen here on a snowy spring afternoon.

 

This bird was pulling up worms in a roadside ditch, not too far from Bear Caves. 

 There is one program unique to the season.  The Frog Pond Pilgrimage happens only in the spring.  A short audio/visual program, in the Red House museum, precedes a walk to the nearby wetlands area.  There participants listen to the calls of frogs and search for the tiny, but vocal, spring peeper. 

Catching them takes patience and luck.  A flashlight and waterproof boots are essential.  

My thanks to mon@rch for the clip of the peeper singing and the photo of the peeper in the net, which he took at my program on 4/21.

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