Blogger Bioblitz Starts Today!

Finally, suddenly, it is warm here. I went for a walk yesterday along the road through the Stoco Fen, and got downright hot. The skunk cabbages are up, leaves just starting (this is a few weeks later than last year: here is my post on them from April 3, 2006).

April 2, 2006--Way ahead of 2007
They're mostly further back from the road than they were last year because the water level is way down. Saw no turtles, but was treated to the din of a chorus of mink frogs--in water just close enough to the road that I could see them dashing about--not close enough that I could identify them by sight. Mink frogs (Rana septentrionalis) aren't all that easily identified by sight, apparently--easily confused with both green and leopard frogs--so perhaps it just as well I could hear them better than see them. I saw a frog too--reddish brown back, grey underneath. I don't yet know what it was. Too large, I think, to be a tree frog. No mask, so I think not a wood frog... No camera, hence the words only. Browsing as I write I came across wood frogs at Burning Silo--no mask! So perhaps that's what it was--according to other accounts the colouration is within their range of possibilities.

Today, another warm one, is the first day of the Blogger Bioblitz. Should be lots more to see than there would have been last Saturday. On the right, an intrepid crocus braving the snow last Saturday morning. That snow, which fell the Thursday and Friday before was gone by the afternoon, then Sunday night the nor'easter blew in and there was snow on the ground once again. Now we are spending a few days in summer, with cooler temperatures forecast for the early part of the week. As I think I've mentioned before--we are constantly surprised by our weather in southern Ontario, year after year, in spite of its constancy of variation.

The rabbits continue to visit the yard. I now think that there are one or more enterprising males taking advantage of the fact that the availability of bird seed through the winter has made this a regular stop for many rabbits. So they hang around ready to dance with whomever comes along. Because I see them so often, I've got a rabbit search image seared into my brain. Walking yesterday evening I was sure I saw one that turned out to be configured from a combination of grasses and a clod of earth. but then I saw the one below--just about the way it looks in the photo, and this time, rabbit indeed.

See the rabbit? Look for the reddish patch at the back of its neck.
Maybe one or two will turn up to be listed for the Bioblitz. I'm heading out this morning--and have decided to include a little patch of the swamp in the cedar bush as well as a piece of the edge of the far field. So we'll see what we see.

Tweed Green-Up

One of the things I've been up to lately (instead of writing) is getting involved in the formation of an environmental group in the Municipality of Tweed (a big area that contains the village of Tweed and Thomasburg too--and lots else). I went to an all-candidates' meeting before the municipal election last fall. As it was during the previous municipal election campaign, the meeting was standing room only--proving, I guess, the old adage, "all politics are local." I was pretty impressed--this was a better turnout than I've seen at some meetings during federal election campaigns.

During the question period Denice, a woman I know (mainly through her u-pick organic blueberry patch that has had two very productive years in a row--I'm hoping this year will be as good, the blueberries in the freezer will soon be gone), asked each of the candidates whether they would be willing to discuss, consider, whatever, a cosmetic pesticide ban for the municipality. Only one said she'd be willing to discuss such a thing (she was elected Reeve). The others said things like, "that stuff is safe, the government makes sure" and "we can't tell people what to do on their own property." The latter was my favourite, because, of course, it's the municipal government that tells us how many cats we can have, whether we can build a woodshed, how many yard sales we can have in a year, and so on, and so on....

After the meeting I went up to Denice to talk about the idea of the ban. She asked me if I'd be willing to help her follow up, I said yes. I've been pretty heavily involved in party politics for the last few years--and events during the last federal election campaign (national, not local) as well as a number of other frustrations took the wind out of my sails. I am still helping the local riding association with a few things...but I was ripe for another political/activist direction. When Denice suggested that we form an environmental committee and get involved in a whole range of environmental projects I said yes again, becoming a founding member of Tweed Green-Up.

The time for something like this was clearly right. With a little publicity we quickly grew from an original four to fourteen members.

Then we were able to seize an opportunity to have John Seed come to Belleville to give his Climate Change, Despair and Empowerment presentation. The event will take place May 1, 7:30 pm, Eastminster United Church, 432 Bridge St. E., Belleville. (For more information, contact us: tweedgreenup(AT)yahoo.ca.)

One of our members was successful in getting the Chamber of Commerce to fund a reusable shopping bag for Tweed merchants--to be available early this summer. We're getting the same bag Perth has, showcased by Bev on Burning Silo, here.

A screening of An Inconvenient Truth is planned for late in May in the village of Tweed. Details will be available soon on the Tweed Green-Up blog.

Then there's Adopt-a-Highway, and so on, and so on...we're putting our fingers in a lot of pies.

The blog: Tweed Green-Up, is the place where news, events, resources, etc. are and will be available. We're just getting started. So please consider linking it to help our fellow Tweedites find us!

Eastern Cottontails in Love

They were here again this morning--at least I think it was them. But they weren't dancing like they did back in March...

Now for the stare portion of our program
According to Banfield (The Mammals of Canada), via the Fletcher Wildlife Garden website:

Eastern cottontails breed in late February to early March and continue until September. Courtship is said to be quite energetic. Banfield (1974) describes it as an "interesting mating dance" in which "the buck chases the doe in a lively pursuit around the meadow. Eventually she turns and faces the buck and spars at him with her front paws. As they crouch facing each other, a few inches apart, one of the pair suddenly leaps about two feet in the air and the other runs nimbly underneath it." This usually occurs after dark and may be accompanied by squeals and grunts.

For about ten days in March these two rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) met in the backyard every morning to do their crazy dance. A photo doesn't do it justice--this is the "staring" portion. The rabbit on the left is the male, as per Banfield. Another rabbit--larger and with a broader, redder forehead came by sometimes too, but I never saw it interact with either of these two.

Of course indentifying individual cottontails is a pretty speculative business. Their coats vary enormously, I've learned from having the opportunity this year to see some together, but they also vary seasonally, and I have no idea how many are as grey as the fellow above, or as brown as the gal--so perhaps I saw ten courting pairs, not one on ten occasions. In any case, it's been fun to have them around, putting on a show we can watch through the back window.

Report from the Kitchen Floor

It's Circus of the Spineless time again, the blog carnival of all things invertebrate. It's up at Burning Silo. The theme is discovery. After you finish looking at my recent spineless visitors, "discovered" on the kitchen floor, head on over there for reports on the spineless from around the world.


I think the burying beetle was the most interesting critter to appear on the kitchen floor, but recently there have been others.

I don't know what kind of moth this is--though it is one I've seen (or ones very like it) many times before. The strange thing about this one is that it was lying still on the kitchen floor, looking dead, but apparently in some kind of stupour. The floor is cold, so that may have been it. I took it outside to photograph it (and because the kitchen was no place for it). It stayed right where I left it for several days. I nudged it occasionally and it always responded, still alive. After a while it vanished--whether of its own accord, or snapped up by a bird I don't know.


This spider is a frequent visitor, and probably a basement resident. It was perfectly alert, which is why I photgraphed it on the kitchen floor instead of moving it out first. I don't know what this one is either--should try to look it up at the Nearctic Spider Database. Update: Haven't been able to find anything except Dolomedes triton that fits, as suggested by the comments to this post--if this is right, odd that a fishing spider would be in the house.


It isn't So if it's Dolomedes triton then it is one of the Spider WebWatch spiders, but a couple of my favourites are among the nine spider ambassadors. If you watch spiders, consider joining the WebWatch. Click the link to find out more.

If you watch all kinds of things, and you're a blogger who hasn't yet heard about Blogger Bioblitz, click this link to The Voltage Gate and get involved.

Thanks to Jennifer at Invasive Species Weblog and Nuthatch at Bootstrap Analysis for the Blogger Bioblitz button!

I and the Bird #45

I've been away from cyberspace lately, except for an occasional short visit, so I've missed developments at I and the Bird. The most recent edition is up at Journey through Grace, a birthday celebration for host Jayne's 45th birthday. It's another wonderful selection of the best of recent bird and birding blogging, but what's striking about it for me is how many new blogs are represented.

Mike at 10,000 Birds recently wrote a metablog post about nature and birder blogging (see also John's thoughts on the matter at A DC Birding Blog), acknowledging that we are a small niche in the great blogosphere--but the growth seems to me to be exponential.

Check out I and the Bird #45 and you'll see what I mean.

Friday Turkey

Jake in the Yard (courtesy of Bill Newman)

All aboard the Friday Ark!

Happy Birthday, PZ Myers!!

Today the great defender of evolution and lover of all things cephalopodic, Professor Myers of Pharyngula is fifty!

I came across Pharyngula early on in my forays into the blogosphere (2005), while searching for science and nature blogs, and have been a faithful reader ever since. I was dismayed to learn that the threat to science education in the United States is real, heartened to see science defended so passionately, fascinated by the beautiful images of ocotopuses and squids, and interested and entertained by the rest of the eclectic selection of science and political posts offered by the erudite and often funny PZ Myers.

So on this, his special day, at the threshold of the second half of life (one I will reach in a few short months), I salute him. And take this opportunity to recommend that the few people who might come across this small blog who have not visited Pharyngula, rush on over!!

Happy Birthday, PZ! And may there be many more.