Reflections Spring

Reflections Earl Plato

Reflections. Pleasant memories. What a difference a few warm days this year can make. Warm days and warmer nights in mid-spring can make the difference. On a Tuesday 2009 we headed out mid-morning to Marcy Woods. A faint misting as we took the road through the kennels to The Woods. There they were - a few yellow-headed Coltsfoot’s flowers showing up. Yes, to our left in the wetlands the sound of Chorus frogs. This was going to be a good day. The fine mist kept falling but not enough to deter our mission. That was Marcy pond and hopefully Wood frogs. No Wild leaks yet. A huge nest was to our left a hundred feet in or so. I focused my bird glasses. No globular squirrel nest but a nest well constructed of twigs - Red Tail hawk or a Horned owl? We’ll keep an eye on it. Further along the Lower Trail we saw the buds appearing on the Spice bushes. Soon delicate little yellow flowers will appear on its branches. We spied a single Spring Beauty plant with its delicate little white flowers. We rounded the Lower Trail and headed south toward the pond. We were approaching the pond and I asked for us to be quiet and hear for the frogs. Listen. We could hear the high pitched sounds of the Spring peepers. Not many. Then the sound of the Chorus frogs in greater number. Run your finger over a stiff comb. That’s something like its sound. Then as we approached quietly to the pond. We heard that to many is not a typical frog sound. Two - three - ten - perhaps twenty “quacks”. Yes, the Wood frogs were here. Not too many but Marcy pond once again served as home. I have an excellent slide of a Wood frog but I also sketched one. It started to sprinkle but we continued on to the cabin. Strange to see no seats outside the porch. Our rest seats inside are all gone. No let up in the sprinkle so across the Willwerth bridge we went. Fallen trees - go over or under. Be careful. Down the wet and slippery steps. My old arches were aching. Three things I appreciated this day. Spring unfolding at Marcy Woods; seeing and hearing the Wood frogs once again; and walking with friends and relatives enjoying Marcy Woods. Thank you DiCienzo family.
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Carl Winger, John Piett, Keith Bailey, and Dave Renshaw. What do they have in common? All recently saw the magnificent Bald eagle in Fort Erie. Dave saw the giant bird off of old Fort Erie. He said that it plunged into the water to retrieve a fish. The Bald eagle has battled back from the threat of extinction because of habitat loss and the pesticide DDT. Welcome back to Fort Erie. Long may you live.