Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica)

A pair of Wood Frogs mating on my lawn.

I heard the first croaking calls of the Wood Frog this evening.  An unusually warm spring day with a maximum temperature of 65.  Taylor Pond ice out occured unusually early this year on March 15.  The swamp around my home has been mostly ice free for weeks.  Just four days ago we had a nor'easter that dropped a foot of snow and wind gusts of 25 mph. Most of the snow has melted and apparently the frogs have also thawed.  The male, on top, tends to be smaller and darker than the female. They average 2-3 inches when full grown.  They typically inhabit woodlands, for which their coloring provides great camouflage, and only migrate to vernal pools for breeding.  They overwinter by burrowing into the soil and will partially freeze. They accumulate large amounts of urea and glucose in their blood stream which act as antifreeze to protect them from the damage that freezing can cause. Their duck-like calls are the first of the frogs to call in this area of Maine. 

 Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus)

Named for its wandering, "Bohemian", character, this bird breeds in northern Canada and Alaska as well as Siberia.  They tend to occur in flocks, thus the term "garrulus", searching for winter fruits.  A flock of 13 appeared in my yard today and proceeded to consume what remains of the fruit on my crabapples.  In the summer time they prefer higher protein foods, primarily insects. They typically show up in late winter and early spring in Maine.  They are replaced by the smaller Cedar Waxwings in the summer.  A pair of Cedar Waxwings nested in my yard last year and they fed on mulberries from trees that I planted 25 years ago as well as the abundant insects that thrive in the swamps around my home. The yellow wax-like wing strip and the red beneath the tail and on the face from pigments in their diet.  Both the yellow on the wing and tip of the tail increase with maturity and more mature birds tend to be more successful in raising young.  

Bohemian Waxwing feeding on a crabapple.

  

They usually appear in large flocks of 15-60 birds and will strip a tree of its fruit.

Cedar Waxwing in the same crabapple tree in June.  They tend to be less plump, lack red on the face and under the tail is yellow instead of red.  

 Ring-necked Ducks    (Aythya collaris)

Taylor Pond hosts a variety of waterfowl migrating north in the spring and south in the summer.  Mallards live year-round due to people feeding them and they gather in groups of up to 200 even when the lake is frozen over.  In the summer many small Mallard ducklings appear. Other summer residents include the Wood Duck, Common and Hooded Mergansers. The most variety appears during migration and includes Green-wing Teal, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Pied-billed Grebes and Ringneck Ducks. The ring on Ringneck Ducks is obscure but can be seen on the male in the bottom photo.  The white rings on the bill are easier to observe. They breed in shallow ponds in northern Maine and up to the arctic in Canada and Alaska.  In the winter they stay in the southern United States, Central America and the Caribbean. While on Taylor Pond they can be seen diving in shallow water for plant parts and invertebrates.  They typically pair up during migration prior to arriving in their northern breeding grounds.  Shy birds, they will usually take off as soon as you approach.

A pair of Ring-necked Ducks.

In this pair you can just make out the brown ring on the neck of the male.