March 25, 2007

This is the first weekend that the lake has been thawed. Up until Weds. or so of this past week the surface was frozen. Temps in the 50s and 60s this first week of spring.

Several ducks have flown in for a landing, seen me, and kept going...

Winter was cold, but the heater was effective. The causeway flooded through in the melting runoff earlier this week. I suppose it will need to be fixed at some point.

Things are still quite brown and muddy. During the main meltoff and when it was particularly ice during the winter, we parked our car in the office park on Liberty.

Canada Geese have been in the area since Feb, and now we have many ducks coming through, mostly mallards. Since this past Thursday night, we've had the pleasure of hearing spring peepers and wood frogs on the wetland. We can even hear it upstairs in the cabin. Dr. K. B. has been out collecting and counting each day since then. He found 200 on Thurs and 1000 yesterday. It's amazing to me that they overwinter, frozen in the top couple inches of the ground. He's been at it here at Saginaw for 25 years, and says that this is the largest that the vernal pond has been since 1992!

Here at the lake's edge this morning, I don't see to much life. There's a tiny waterbug gliding. Small raccoon prints mark the sandy bar at the edge. I do not see any sign of "herps". Apparently Saginaw doesn't have salamanders.

Dr. B. said that usually two wood ducks make a home on the vernal pond, but he hasn't seen them this year. I've only seen mallards. We are puzzled as to why herons and other animals don't pick off the bounty of frogs in the wetland! Th herons come to the lake instead.