More Phenology 2013: Tiny Peepers and Other Little Ditties

Today (April 15th) marked the first time I've heard Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) this year.  Much like their congener the Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata), Peepers are one of the earlier frogs to call in our region.

The species name "crucifer" is in reference to the X-shaped mark (or cross) on their backs.

Like most amphibians, the Peeper must lay its eggs in water, which is the reason why the males call around wetlands this time of year (i.e., to attract females for reproduction).  Although many larger frog species around here lay their eggs in large gelatinous "masses", the Peeper is alittle different.  They lay their eggs singly, or in small clumps, attached to vegetation in the water.

The tadpoles are also small and mostly non-descript to the unfamiliar eye.  In general, tadpoles of frogs in the "Treefrog" group (Family Hylidae), which includes the Gray Treefrog, Cope's Gray Treefrog, Chorus Frog and Spring Peeper in our fine state, have a deep tail.  Peeper tadpoles don't get as large as the Treefrog tads....but are similar in size to the Chorus Frog tads....which makes them hard to ID as tadpoles.

Otherwise, it's been for the birds.....

A Pair O' Canada Geese (Branta canadensis)

Goosey, Goosey Gander laying down the law.....

....and Fido turning the tables on Goosey......

Also, a confused Sandhill Crane....

Some other firsts for the year:
April 3: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (yard)
April 7: Eastern bluebird (prairie on campus)
April 7: Goldfinch (yard)
April 15: Tree Swallow (prairie on campus)

I should also point out that recently I attended the National Council of Undergraduate Research to support some of my students that were presenting data from our research projects (where I also saw Alyssa doing a very nice job of presenting some of her research).  This conference is the reason why I took a week off of the blog.  There were about 11 total ecology students from my institution attending the conference and as a group we took a small field trip to a neighboring marsh (~2 hr hike).  While there, we saw a variety of birds, despite the short time frame.

Here's a hasty species list, based on what I can recall:

The aquatic birds were particularly obvious:
American Coot
Pied-Billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Scaup (couldn't tell if it was Lesser or Greater)
Ringneck Duck
Blue-Winged Teal
Bufflehead
Mallard
American Black Duck
American Wood Duck
Northern Shoveler

There were a few Raptors
American Kestrel
Bald Eagle (Juvenile)

A few odds 'n' ends, and I'm sure we heard more that I couldn't identify (my bird call ID is rusty!)....
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Belted Kingfisher

Then there were the common ones....the Red-winged Blackbirds, the Common Grackles, the European Starlings, the North American Robins, and such.....

Overall, it was a good experience for the students and an enjoyable for me to watch them mature as professionals.

The Fisher-Cat and More Phenology 2013

The student Wolf project finally generated a clip of a Fisher (Martes pennanti) that was worth posting.

This was taken at 7 am on February 18th, 2013.

Given the soft-spot I have for Mustelids.....I thought it was pretty neat to get a Fisher clip, and the students were excited as well.  Fishers are particularly interesting because they are a carnivore that has figured out how to get around that battery of quills protecting the North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum).  The Fisher apparently achieves this by focusing its efforts on the Porcupine's face, where there are no quills, with repeated attacks until the prickly rodent is worn down by blood loss and/or shock.

The history of the Fisher, the Porcupine and overharvesting is particularly interesting, as it starts way back in 19th and early 20th centuries (reviewed by Nowak 2005).  Fishers were heavily harvested by early trappers in North America during this time, which also happened to other furbearing species, such as the Beaver (Castor canadensis, a story I've recounted for you all before).  As a result, the Fisher-Cat was nearly extirpated from the U.S., and with numbers dramatically lowered in Canada.  At this point, it is probably important to appreciate the effect that Fishers can apparently have on Porcupine populations.  An interesting study was published by Earle and Kramm (1982) that compared porcupine populations in two locations:  one with Fishers (due to a re-introduction) and one without.  They estimated Porky population densities of 40 / 100 km-squared in the area with Fishers, and densities of 350 / km-squared in areas without Fishers!  According to Nowak (op. cit.) the loss of the Fisher to excessive trapping lead to a concomitant rise in Porcupine numbers, who proceeded to do "considerable forest damage".  This made the Porcupine unpopular within the timber industry (Roze 2009).  Thus, efforts were made to protect the Fisher in order to control the number of Porcupines.  Such efforts included more stringent laws and closed trapping seasons to help conserve the Fisher.....which were coupled with several successful re-introductions....has lead to the re-bound of Martes pennanti in the U.S.
________________________________________________________________________

Phenology:

The last week (March 10th through the 15th) has also yielded a host of new phenological events for 2013.

On Sunday (March 10th) I saw the first Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) of the year.

Photo source: Wikipedia

On March 10th I also saw the first American Robin (Turdus migratorius) of the season.

Photo source: Wikipedia

Today (March 15th) I observed two other "firsts" for the year: I heard the first Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) calling of 2013, and the first strutting/displaying Tom walkin' birds (Meleagris gallopavo) of the year (THREE Toms displaying amongst a group of 15 birdds near campus).  As an aside, the first Red-winged Blackbird call I heard last year was March 1st.

Photo source: Wikipedia

Things have been chaotic busy!  Hopefully more to post soon!
_______________________________________________________________________

Literature Cited:

Earle, R.D., and K.R. Kramm. 1982. Correlation between fisher and porcupine abundance in upper Michigan. The American Midland Naturalist 107:244-249.

Nowak, R.M. 2005. Walker's Carnivores of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Roze, U. 2009. The North American Porcupine (second edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca.