March Winds

Yesterday was a beautiful blue-skied sunny day - perfect, if one doesn't mind being blown away!  

Such fierce winds!  But those winds... they serve a purpose.  And this week they are blowing out the cold and ushering in some warmer temperatures.  By week's end we will be back up into the 60's again. 

I took a trip out to the wood frog nursery yesterday afternoon.  I have to go without this fellow, however.  (We've dubbed him The Great Disrupter.)

  There is no keeping him out of puddles and mud, so, a trip to a vernal pond is definitely out of the question for him.  Alone, I tip-toed over to the puddle and saw two little frogs keeping watch over all of the masses of eggs that have now risen to the surface.  Seeing me, they quickly slurped beneath the surface and underneath a mass of eggs.  I had read that some males stay behind to watch over the nests.

Inside each egg, a tiny embryo is quickly developing.   You can see the black dot on some of the eggs pictured.   Within days, these eggs will hatch and this puddle will be filled with tadpoles!

I am hoping that this group of marauders stays away from the puddle.  I am hoping that they are clueless as to what lies just beneath the surface.  After all, little tadpoles might just be tasty hors d'oeuvres for ducks!

In fact, there are so many threats (chickens included) to these tiny amphibian babies' lives - it's no wonder each frog lays so very many eggs!  Nature seems to find a way, despite the dangers.  I will be doing my best to help assure these tiny froglets make it to the croaking stage (no pun intended!).

With fierce winds blowing, yesterday, it was the perfect day for this kitty to stay indoors,

napping in the sun on the kitchen windowsill.  See her little foot resting on the faucet??  ❤️

Yesterday, on our woods walk, we found this curiosity.  It is a beech nut that has germinated right in the middle of the main trail back into the woods (not a great place for a beech tree!).  But still a wondrous sight.

PS... for those of you who requested it... the Mineral Soak Salts recipe was on Friday's blog.