AstroGypsies

Never ceases to amaze me, no leaves, leaves! Yeah! Oh wait…and bugs! Ha! It’s the flying biting ones and then those miniscule little Spring ticks the size of a pinhead that I truly abhor…but hey, it’s warm…er!

I appreciate the fact that these bigger flying bugs, eat those smaller flying biting bugs! And the snow birds are back! May 2nd marked the very very early return of not only the Orioles, but a Ruby Throated Hummingbird, and a male Grosbeak! Time to get my boogie shoes on! We all need some KC and the Sunshine Band on a rainy day!

..and those songs. The Rose Breasted grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole have such distinctive voices! Adding to the repertoire of the Grackle squawks and Red Winged Blackbird squeaks is nice! This morning the hummingbird was chasing a poor American Goldfinch around the trees with the goldfinch looking like “Whad-I do buddy?” You looked wrong at him, they are cranky little beasts about their territories right now, and always!

..and it’s not just the birds singing! There’s a whole bunch of croaking, popping and slithering going on! Out by the mailbox a record 18 turtles were perched on the log sunning! It must have been a Town Hall meeting morning!

The Northern Water snakes are sunning on the road. I tried to shoo one off, he was maybe 15″ long and he had other ideas! Talk about cranky! The Gray Rat snakes are also out! Such beautiful creatures!

Down at the infamous culvert a little Garter Snake was fussing a fair bit even though I was a good ways away until I noticed he/she had company. It was snacking on a tasty minnow, which is actually a Brook Stickleback I have been told! The other snakes head was under our culvert so I couldn’t tell what it was, a Northern water snake the Ontario Amphibian page told me. Probably trying to steal the minnow! Beautiful to see life returning after Winter…and the pollywogs! They are huge!

Just a few…thousand American Bullfrog pollywogs…Time to metamorphosis ranges from a few months in the southern part of the range to 3 years in the north, where the colder water slows development. Who knew they come up for air and blow bubbles! Check out the juvenile with a small, grey, oval-shaped area on top of the head, the parietal eye! They grow quickly in the first eight months of life, typically increasing in weight from 5 to 175 g (0.18 to 6.17 oz), and large, mature individuals can weigh up to 500 g (1.1 lb). In some cases bullfrogs have been recorded as attaining 800 g (1.8 lb) and measuring up to 8 in (20 cm) from snout to vent. The American bullfrog is the largest species of true frog in North America.

The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is a large true frog native to eastern North America. It typically inhabits large permanent water bodies such as swamps, ponds, and lakes. Bullfrogs can also be found in manmade habitats such as pools, koi ponds, canals, ditches and culverts. The bullfrog gets its name from the sound the male makes during the breeding season, which sounds similar to a bull bellowing. The bullfrog is large and is commonly eaten throughout its range, especially in the southern United States where they are plentiful…frog legs…hmmm….we may have to wait until they develop them;) The only parts normally eaten are the rear legs, which resemble small chicken drumsticks, have a similar flavor and texture and can be cooked in similar ways:)

I think I may stick to chicken! Reminds me of the Far Side cartoon…Thank you Gary Larson for your wonderful sense of humour!

..and the gray rat snakes are out as well! Such beautiful animals and yes, we have eaten snake stew…in Baja, Rattlesnake stew…once again, I’ll stick with chicken, it’s all those bones!

A scent-hunter and a powerful constrictor, P. spiloides feeds primarily on small mammals, birds, and bird eggs. A medium to large serpent, the gray ratsnake typically reaches an adult size of 99–183 cm (3.25–6.00 ft) total length (including tail). An agile climber, the gray ratsnake is at home from the ground to the tree tops in many types of hardwood forest and cypress stands, along tree-lined streams and fields, and even around barns and sheds in close proximity to people. Ask our neighbours, they had one hanging from the door frame to their cottage one day, Katie wanted to know if we had heard her screaming! Ha! Bet she checks that doorframe every time she goers in now!

…and not just the returning animals but the life springing from the ground! The sugar maples are blooming and the hophorn beam, Ironwood, just love that name! Ha! The wildflowers have started pushing their way up through the layers of leaves.

I love the Field Horsetail-The plant contains several substances that can be used medicinally. It is rich in silicon (10%), potassium, calcium, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus, phytosterols, dietary fiber, vitamins A, E and C, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides and caffeic acid phenolic ester. The buds are eaten as a vegetable in Japan and Korea in spring. It has separate sterile non-reproductive and fertile spore-bearing stems growing from a perennial underground rhizomatous stem system. They just look so cool! Like some kind of asparagus!

I found a pair Mock-orange Scissor Bees (Chelostoma philadelphi) which I didn’t realize even existed until today, making whoopee in the newly bloomed trillium;) Isn’t nature grand! I almost forgot the horny gray/black squirrels! OMG god, they were impossible, chasing a poor female around, a gang of 6 of them. I came close to interfering as she was exhausted but decided it was nature taking it’s course. Sometimes I wonder just how civilized we humans think we are! NOT! The spiky rock was more my speed! Rocket kept looking out the kitchen window at something, I went out, couldn’t see anything, then Mike spotted it, a porcupine making it’s way very slowly across the yard! Some days…I did catch up with a young White Tailed deer that decided if it froze, I wouldn’t know it was there…I talked softly to it as I walked down the hill and right on past…:) Every day is an adventure!

..and there’s more, bugs, more screaming birds, tree frogs, donkeys and daffodils…but we’ll tell you tomorrow. I’ll leave you with a beautiful sunrise, love those flat calm mornings, time to get the dock attached and the canoe in the water! Saludos amigos! Hasta pronto!