A Glimpse of Nature

There is so much activity in spring!  Here are two sounds you may hear if you venture beyond your neighborhood.  You know the ropes:  email lrubinacci@amesfreelibrary.org with your answers and check back next week.

Congratulations to Tom Cee who correctly identified last week’s “What Is It!” on Facebook.  This delicate spring flower is the lovely wood anemone, Anemone quinquefolia.

Now blooming in selected woodlands near you! 

Submit your identification to lrubinacci@amesfreelibrary and check back next week for info on this topic.

Your photos of spring wildflowers are welcome, too.

Remember the swimming garter snake that headlined our March 30th post? Since that time, readers have shared sightings of two more snake species.

April 5, Hanson

Courtesy:  Louis Vanrenen

Did you guess correctly?  Frogs were the focus of last week’s “What Is It!” game.

These gelatinous eggs contain wood frog embryos.  While wood frogs may not be as well known as bullfrogs or green frogs, they are a delight to observe in the late-winter/early-spring woods.  Listen for their duck-like quacks during March, when the frogs congregate at woodland pools to lay and fertilize eggs.  They are especially noticeable on mild, rainy nights.

Somehow, I forgot to offer a “What Is It!” post for March.  To make up for that oversight, April will be “What Is It!” month.  Here’s one to get us started.  A reader submitted this image from her yard in late March.  Email your identification and any comments to Irubinacci@amesfreelibrary.org and check back next week for the answer.

As children, we learn the archetypal signs of spring:  robins and tulips; nests and eggs; April showers, May flowers, and even Easter bunnies.  It’s a good starting point, but there is so much more.  The seasonal transition happens in a thousand steps.  This week I challenge you to notice some of the less obvious changes.

Our first week of spring brought mild temperatures, bird and frog songs, and some early blossoms.  At this time of year, watch for tree and shrub flowers like those of the pussy willow.  This might require adjusting your perspective because some of these flowers are quite small or located on upper branches.  They may not resemble our mental image of “flowers.”  But, you can be sure that nectaring insects are paying attention!  To learn more about this phenomenon, catch “Ea

Last Sunday, like most Sundays, I went for a walk, though I really didn’t feel up to it. Tired, sniffly, and grumpy, I couldn’t face another damp, gray day.  Nevertheless, I donned my gear and set out to find river otter scat. Yes, that’s how I spend my weekends!  

When the library reopened after the Covid shutdown, a small table was added to an alcove adjoining the staff lunchroom, presumably to encourage social distancing.  The six-foot separations ended some time ago, but the miniature table remains . . .