Posted by
gregdodge
2 Comments

More Signs of Spring!

The turtles were out in force on the logs, rocks, and any other surface that lends itself to basking yesterday (3/17/11).

Eastern Painted Turtles, and Yellow-bellied Sliders (shown here) were out in numbers basking, including “Chip.” Chip’s the one missing part of her shell. That’s her favorite perch.

The first Common Snapping Turtles of the season were spotted yesterday as well.

Two snappers were seen yesterday feeling their way around the Wetlands after their long slumber.

The American Toad that I heard in Catch the Wind last Thursday (3/3/11) was busy in the U-shaped pond next to the Ornithopter.

Strings of eggs were deposited in the pond next to the Ornithopter in Catch the Wind (3/17/11).

And, several times during the past week or so I’ve witnessed the Red-shouldered Hawks mating.

After a brief mating, both hawks shake out their feathers and take off.

There’s a lot of aerial display, loud screeching and general showing off that leads up to the actual mating, but copulation last only a few seconds, and then it’s back to showing off again.

2 responses to More Signs of Spring!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.