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Creative writing about the seasonal changes occurring at Audubon Greenwich
by Ted Gilman - Chief Naturalist

Springtime 2007

Lively courtship displays of male diving ducks, such as bufflehead, goldeneye, and red-breasted merganser on Long Island Sound, involving much head-bobbing and calling to woo their mates before flying north to their woodland nesting grounds;

the slow but inexorable swell of brighter color in tree buds and branches from March’s pale red, gray, and tan to the rich orange, red, and yellow-green maple flowers and opening leaves over the April landscape;

a mixed flock of noisy red-winged blackbirds and common grackles, all facing into the march winds in a tall sugar maple, showing of their bright black, red and purple-sheened plumage in the early spring sunshine;

honeybees visiting the early opening hoods of skunk cabbage to gather pollen and perhaps get an extra dose of warmth on a cool early spring day;

spotted salamanders trooping through the woods to vernal pools on rainy nights in late March or early April to join the underwater mating dances which lead to creation of gelatinous masses of eggs and another generation of red-gilled larvae;

the abrupt, initial “Chip” calls of returning eastern phoebes, which are soon followed by the more familiar “Phoebe” call as these tail-wagging flycatchers return to familiar nest sites along streams, beneath bridges, back porches, and picnic shelter roofs, or on top of cabin light fixtures;

a queen bumblebee crisscrossing our fields in search of an old meadow mouse nest in which to build small wax cups which she can fill with pollen and nectar to serve as food for her own spring brood of young;

basking turtles and snakes slowly warming their bodies in the April sunshine so as to resume their active lives in pond, lake, and swamp;

the first broad-winged hawk floating on a warm, south wind and giving its high two-note whistled call announcing its return from South America to its summer home in New England woodlands;

Spring Peeper - one of the many amphibians living on the sanctuary. © Jeff Cordulack

male pickerel frogs adding their snore-like calls to April days to lure females to their Mead Lake territories;

a tiny, brown, fuzzy bee fly with long, straight proboscis alternately hovering in mid-air and darting down to feed from the violet and white blossums of veronica or speedwell on lawns and footpaths;

baby wood ducks, responding to their mother’s calls, taking the big leap into mid-air from their nest hole, to drop 15-70 feet to the forest floor and follow the hen to the food and shelter of Mead Lake;

wide-eyed young gray squirrels taking their first peek out of their natal nest to view the world of tree branches, tree-trunks and forest floor which will soon become their playground as they dash about and explore what it is to be a full-fledged acrobat of the woodland world;

the deep “jug-o-rum” calls of male bull frogs echoing up the hill from the shores of Mead Lake, announcing the return of the warm evenings of another summer season…

Ted has shared seasonal notes similar to this for many years in the Audubon Greenwich newsletter. To read more of his work, visit the back page of the newsletters kept in the Newsletter Archive on this website. There you can select an issue by season and get a better sense for the wonders that Mother Nature provides each year.