We woke this morning to 1" of snow on the ground and news of a province-wide, emergency brake shut-down. This latter news will put a kibosh on our Saturday workshop, Spring Blooms, Coming out of Our Winter Cocoons. We wish this was an April Fool's Day prank but unfortunately it isn't.
Mother Nature has a way of creating unpredictable and changing weather this time of year, temperatures ranged from 18C to -4C over the past week. Maybe that's how April Fools Day originated, Mother Nature fooling us with these varying temperatures.
The last few afternoons and evenings we have heard the ducklike quack of the wood frogs, lithobates sylvaticus and the high pitched peeping sound of the Spring peepers, pseudacris crucifer slowly coming back to life in the swamp, which is a sure sign spring has arrived. Both species of frogs are extremely tolerant of cold and freezing conditions. Thank goodness! It's a survival method that's needed during our winter months and for our ever-changing and unpredictable weather during March and April. Let us hope that our temperatures continue upward so the frogs can get back to their chorus of chirping and singing.
We'll continue making the best of these challenging times and keep you posted about our next workshop, which hopefully will take place on May 1st. (May Day)
Today is a good day for mammal tracking, bush breathing and putting the finishing touches on the new forest closet, better known as an outhouse. Mike Elmer
