Spring's Sprung!

After the amazing day yesterday, I feel like it's safe to say that it really is spring! The evidence is all here--wildflowers coming up in the woods, lots of folks in sandals and shorts, the last snow piles have finally melted (even at my house), spring peepers are peeping, and the migratory birds are coming back. Hooray for the change in seasons!

The return of the birds is what I've really been noticing lately, especially in the morning as I hear more and more songs outside my windows. In the next week or so, many of the warblers should be returning, and by mid- to late-May cedar waxwings, one of my favorites, should be back as well. There's a certain area near my house where you can often see cedar waxwings; as I've stood there watching them in the past, I've confused a lot of drivers who pass me, obviously wondering what it is I'm looking at.

If you're interested in the return of the birds, too, you should check out the website that I just learned of. It's got a list of estimated arrival times of Vermont's birds, and is really great! Check it out at madbirders.org/2009/03/25/vermont-spring-bird-arrival-schedule/

Don't forget to report on the returning birds that you see, or on any other South Burlington wildlife! Simply comment on this posting to tell me about what you've seen in South Burlington, and where. I want to hear about warblers or frogs or mice...whatever you've seen! Check out my first post, called "Let the Fun Begin" for more info!

A Change in Perspective

I just came in from a walk in the woods, and yes, where I live there is still plenty of snow in the woods. The good part about still having snow is that it's easy to find animal tracks. In fact, while I was out there I found some really great moose tracks, and some deer tracks just a few yards away. The deer tracks looked so dainty and small next to the gigantic moose tracks! It's amazing how perspectives can change so easily.

My perspective on this project has changed pretty quickly and easily, too. At the start, I really wasn't sure whether this would work. Would people log onto their computers and share what they had seen? Would anyone care? But as word has slowly gotten out about this site, I've been getting more and more comments--it's so exciting to check the blog and see new ones waiting for me! Here are some the sightings reported so far:

• I saw two coyotes in my yard on Birchcliff Parkway on Wednesday night... First sighting in my 20 years in Burlington!


• Yesterday at Red Rocks Park I saw a red squirrel. He was chastising us for walking through his woods. I wonder what red squirrels do in the winter?


• On February 28th we tracked a bobcat from the head waters of Muddy Brook across agriculture fields north toward the Leduc parcel. We also saw weasel, squirrel, rabbit, grouse and coyote tracks.


• I have seen small red foxes on three occasions at Stonehedge Townhouses off Spear Street in South Burlington during the last month. The last encounter was a fox on my deck! It reluctantly left only after I repeatedly tapped on my sliding glass door.


• While searching for vernal pools in clayplain forest of the Leduc Farm yesterday, I had a magical encounter amidst the rain and the trees. While standing up after probing through a promising pool, I caught the movement of a large object overhead, about 20 meters away. By the size and the bulk (and silence!) of the bird in flight, it was clearly an owl. Though it flew off out of sight, I found about twenty pellets at the base of the hemlock where it had been roosting. The sheer size (3 x 1.5 inches) of the pellets indicated it was a great horned owl.
• My next door neighbor saw a groundhog crossing my deck last weekend!

I feel really privileged to be hearing everyone's stories, and am amazed at the variety of wildlife that has been reported already. So, keep those South Burlington wildlife stories coming! Just comment on this posting to tell me about what you've seen in South Burlington, and where. I want to hear about chickadees, or mice, or salamanders...whatever you've seen! Check out my first post, called "Let the Fun Begin" for more info! Thanks again to all of you who have posted something already. Keep posting, and tell your friends about it, too!

A Childhood Dream....

I was talking to my 7-year old neighbor last week, and he said that he wished he could have a pet squirrel. Boy oh boy, did I know what he was talking about! As a kid I always wanted a pet squirrel (or a pet lamb, to be honest) and couldn't understand why I couldn't have one. Our family had dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, the ubiquitous, short-lived goldfish; why not a squirrel?

As an adult I realize why I can't have a grey squirrel as a pet and I also realize that it's illegal to have one--but I still find them fascinating, and undeniably cute! I decided to indulge this fascination with some quick research while waiting to go to a meeting the other day. Here's what I found about Eastern Grey Squirrels:

• The grey squirrel's front teeth continue to grow throughout it's life, so they can never be worn away by the animal's continual gnawing.


• Grey squirrles will often share their nests in winter in order to stay warmer, but don't share nests during the warmer summer months.


• Grey squirrles generally don't cache nuts where they are found. Instead, the squirrel carries the food to a new spot and buries it in a hole. It digs the hole with its front feet, then tamps down the earth with front and back feet, as well ast with the nose sometimes!


• About 85 percent of the cached nuts may be recovered. Scientists conducting an experiment buried nuts and found that those were recovered by the squirrels at about the same rate as nuts the squirrels buried themselves. From this, the scientists concluded that memory is not involved in nut recovery.


• The grey squirrel's tail is used primarily for balance in trees, but also serves as a sunshade, an umbrella, a blanket, and a rudder when swimming. Additionally, it provides lift when the squirrel leaps from branch to branch within a tree and acts like a parachute to slow descent if the squirrel falls.


• This squirrel can smell nuts buried under a foot of snow. When the snow is deep squirrels will tunnel under it to get closer to the scent.


• The Eastern Gray Squirrel eats a lot of nuts, but also feeds on feeds maple buds, bark, and samaras (the 'helicopter' seeds), apples, fungi, and even the occasional insect.


• There are albino colonies in Olney, Illinois; Trenton, New Jersey; and Greenwood, South Carolina.

Have you seen grey squirrels or any other wildlife in South Burlington lately? If so, I'd love to hear about it! Simply comment on this posting to tell me about what you've seen in South Burlington, and where. I want to hear about squirrels, or warblers, or toads...whatever you've seen! Check out my first post, called "Let the Fun Begin" for more info! And thanks to all of you who have posted information in the past--keep it coming!!