Spring Salamander Migration Any Day Now!

The Kokosing River at sunrise today, a very short distance from the vernal pool the amphibians will soon migrate en masse to.  (Photo by Don Comis)

This morning's view of the vernal pool that reduces snowmelt flow to the Kokosing while providing a safe spring nursery for amphibian eggs.  (Photo by Don Comis)

The great annual migration of spotted and other salamanders is close, I can just smell it in the air, literally.

I took a second trip to the vernal pool at Kenyon College early this morning.  Rain was in the air and the temperature was 37 degrees Fahrenheit.  A night or early morning rain at 40 degrees are two of three main conditions to stir the salamanders and other amphibians out of their muddy hibernation places.

But there was still snow and ice in and around the vernal pool.  Until that melts, it's not going to happen, but when it melts, it won't be long.

Besides the benefits of getting up at 5:30 a.m., I got to see a skunk, hear a bunch of wild turkeys gobbling, see 8 to 13 deer, and get confronted by the local neighborhood watch mockingbird again--in that order.

Day Ends With Gas Attack

This opossum ("Marsi") is very much alive and asleep.  She is not a true hibernator, but will sleep for weeks in cold spells like we've had.  The first possum I've seen this winter on our front deck was on Feb. 19.  This photo was taken during the Ohio Wildlife History Family Adventure Day at Kenyon College.  The Gund Gallery and Brown Family Environmental Center at Kenyon sponsored the day, along with Ohio Nature Education (ONE) and the Public Library of Knox County and Mount Vernon.   The bear skin was donated to ONE.   Technically, the bear isn't a true hibernator either--but they do stay in their dens a lot longer than opossums, skunks, and raccoons.   The groundhog, on the other hand, is a true hibernator.  (Photo by Don Comis)

 
My day ended with skunk "gas" seeping into our living room as I read old Reader's Digest stories to my mother-in-law.  My wife smelled the gas seeping into our basement as well.

I don't know what scared it--maybe one of my cats peeked out the glass doors at it?  Or maybe it scuffled with one of two other nocturnal visitors to our bird feeders in the past four days--first, an opossum and second, a raccoon.  I finally checked and saw that none of our three "guests" are true hibernators--they just sleep long spells, even weeks, in cold winter weather.  I can see why I haven't seen or smelled much of them this winter.

I don't know if it was the cold or the wind or first dibs on attracting a mate this spring, but today I finally identified the bird I first saw in my "bluebird" birdhouse on February 19 as a male house sparrow.  House sparrows took over both of my bluebird houses last year, but I'm not sure if any babies were produced.

Otherwise my bird observations were at a low today--I didn't see any birds at my feeders when I was counting them at breakfast time.  But, when I took a nice spring-like walk/run with our dog, Friendly, I heard a hawk calling and saw it soaring in the sky near our house.  And I heard a lot of bird songs as we moved on.