Harbinger of Spring

 

Harbinger of Spring

Shared by Melissa Donahue

Naturalist

January 2021

Photos by the authoress 

Can you feel the change?  The days are getting longer, the male goldfinches are getting brighter, shoots of daffodils are poking above the ground, and if you’re quiet you will hear owls hooting in the woods.  When I start to feel this change, I head to the wetlands.  It is at the wetland that spring starts for me. There are two wetlands that I visit.  The first is close to the ballfields, behind the row of trees in Edwin Warner.   I love to go there; the water flows across the land with an energy that reveals the promise of spring.  The second is on the Nature Center campus.  It is attached to the pond on the Nature Center grounds.

 

Water running through the wetland

 

According to the Izaak Walton Leagueof America, a wetland is an ecosystem that has both land and water characteristics. Although wetlands are often covered in water or saturated to the surface, some are wet only during certain times of the year.   Wetlands are a special place and here is why.

 

 

                                                                    Trees that show the high-water mark

 

Wetlands filter pollution and act as a buffer to floods.  Hydric soil, common in wetlands, is well-suited for this purpose.  This soil collects and hold floodwaters, then slowly disperses them.  Plants with special adaptations, such as hollow stems to allow oxygen to travel to the roots of the plant, are found in wetlands.   Examples of the plants you might find are cattails, pitcher plants and green ash.

 

 

Nature Center wetlands in early spring

 

The wetlands help our environment by providing food for animals.  At both the wetlands we see evidence of raccoon and deer.  A heron has been observed visiting the wetlands at the Nature Center.  And in the warmer weather you can never rule out nearby snake, waiting to eat.

  

Deer track

 

As well as providing food, the wetlands provide habitat for a variety of animals.  Bullfrog tadpoles share resources with turtles, insect larva, worms and aquatic arthropods.   Many species of frogs come to the wetlands to mate and lay eggs.

 

Bullfrog tadpole

 

It’s easy to see why the wetlands hold hope for spring.  On a warm February evening, take a walk behind the ball fields in Edwin Warner.  There is a good chance you will be greeted by a symphony of Upland Chorus Frogs, a sure sign that spring is coming.