Common Watersnakes Basking
Common Watersnakes are active both day and night. During the day they cruise along the surface of the water with just their head above the surface as they search along the water’s edge looking for small fish, tadpoles, frogs, salamanders, crayfish, leeches and large insects, among other aquatic prey. If the sun is out, however, you’re more likely to see them basking on rocks, river or pond banks, cattail stems, overhanging brush or, as pictured, a beaver lodge.
Between emergence from hibernation and breeding (which begins shortly in the Northeast), Common Watersnakes feed very little. Often, as in this photograph, they congregate and bask. In the spring, they bask most of the day. In early summer, they tend to bask just in the morning and by late summer they bask only in the early morning. (A Guide To Amphibians and Reptiles, Tom Tyning)
Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.
Shagbark Hickory Buds Opening
Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) is immediately recognizable by its large, flat plates of bark that curl away from its trunk, giving the tree a shaggy appearance. Its attributes are well known: Shagbark Hickory nuts are sweet and edible (to humans and wildlife). Its tough but flexible wood is used for sporting equipment, tool handles, ladders and flooring, and it’s a source of high-quality charcoal for smoking bacon, ham and other meats. But to me, its most outstanding feature is on display right now, as the scales on its swollen buds open and fold back, petal-like, revealing new foliage that will soon expand into large, compound leaves.
Male Gray Treefrog Ardor Grows When Female Is In Sight
The peak of Gray Treefrog courtship and breeding occurs in another month, but males are already actively calling near bodies of water. Frogs are highly sensitive to motion so visual cues play an important part in their courtship.
Male Gray Treefrogs are significantly more likely to give their musical, bird-like courtship calls when they are able to see an approaching female, and their calls are longer if females are nearby and within sight. This is a good thing, as research has found that female Gray Treefrogs choose mates on the basis of advertisement calls and prefer long calls to short calls. (To hear a Gray Treefrog calling, go to https://musicofnature.com/calls-of-frogs-and-toads-of-the-northeast/, scroll down to “Gray Treefrog” and click on arrow. Spring Peepers and Green Frog in background.)
Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.
Young Hardwood Leaves
Have you ever noticed that the color of many of the tender, young leaves on shrubs and trees that are emerging at this time of year have a reddish tint? The red color of many spring leaves is due to the same pigments responsible for the brilliant reds of autumn, the anthocyanins. This spring coloration is temporary; eventually, as they produce the green pigment chlorophyll necessary for photosynthesis, the leaves turn green. There has to be a reason for this phenomenon, and several theories have been proposed.
Researchers have found that young oak leaves (which can be quite red-see photo) are attacked less by insects than young green leaves. The red coloration of young leaves contains high concentrations of tannins and anthocyanins which together may act as a defense against herbivorous insects. It has also been suggested that the anthocyanins may help the leaves withstand cold and screen them from damaging ultraviolet rays as well as air pollution.
Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.
Red Admirals Returning
Our northern population of Red Admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) migrates to southern states in the fall and over the winter a new generation of Red Admirals matures to fly north in early spring. They can be seen now feeding on dandelions and other early-blooming flowers as well as sap and bird droppings.
Adult Red Admirals live for about two weeks and during this time they mate and lay their green, hairy eggs on all species of nettle, where they are well camouflaged. Black, spiky larvae hatch and feed voraciously on nettle plants before pupating and emerging as vibrant orange-striped, white-spotted adult butterflies. There are two summer generations in the Northeast. Male Red Admirals are highly territorial, which is why they are commonly encountered chasing each other from their preferred roosting spots.
Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.
Naturally Curious with Mary Holland 
What Other Naturally Curious People Are Saying