Monday 10 April 2017

Signs of Spring: Osprey, Spring Peepers

We went down to the locks to see what was up. The ice hasn't gone out from the lake yet. There was an empty car sitting there. I didn't realize someone was photographing birds on the far shore! Can you see her?


The osprey hold their fish catch to streamline it under their bodies! All along highway #43 there are several osprey nests. It's not until the lake water melts that they return, more or less!

Spring Peepers

There were just a few last night, but my 5-year-old video plays the sound.

Yes, they are here, but they prefer to 'peep' in the dark, loudly, since I often work in my garden near their frog pond. The moment I spoke they became silent. I added their songs to my photos of peepers. First is the jelly-like mass in which they lay eggs. Slowly, they grow. You can see the tadpole clouds of 100s later on in the season. The tails disappear once their limbs grow. They are incredibly tiny but have large voices.



Spring Peepers Lanark is another video!

9 comments:

Christine said...

Wonderful video of life and spring rebirth!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

The Osprey are such beautiful and majestic birds! And we heard lots of frogs...of all sizes at the swamp yesterday. It was a regular cacophony of sounds! Enjoy your week! Hugs!

Debbie said...

i did see that dedicated photographer!! beautiful capture of the osprey!!

Cat Lover said...

Hi Jenn,great photos! I noticed the Spring Peepers were very loud here last night. I stood out on the deck and listened for a few minutes.
take care.
Robin

Nancy J said...

She would have to be a very keen "birder" to sit there in the cold and wait, and with a tele lens, it would be a heavy load in her hand without a tripod. Still a lot of cold stuff on the ground and water.And the nests, what a view from up there, safety with a tall pole underneath.

William Kendall said...

The ospreys are quite distinctive!

Red said...

I think the frogs are what spring means to me.

Anvilcloud said...

It's good to see them doing their thing. I once tried to photograph them by a nest in SFalls. Results were mediocre.

Powell River Books said...

We don't have any spring peepers, and very few signs of spring that stick around for more than a day or two. But I think hope is on the horizon. - Margy