I went out at 10:15 am today to go look for frogs. Its still early in Spring and the creek by my house only has Green Frogs (Lithobates clamitans), the occasional Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus), and American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus) but I haven’t seen them in a long time there. It was a really warm day out, 70 degrees.
First spot that there have been green frogs in the past and there was sadly nothing. This spot usually has a few Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica), an invasive plant species but it hasn’t grown yet. I need to dig that up but it hasn’t really spread in the 2 years that I noticed it.
As I walked farther, I noticed heard the song of the black capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) and saw one sitting on a branch nearby.
Found signs of kid’s activity in the creek.
Another sign of human activity in the creek. The city decided to cut down and trim trees to make a mountain bike trail. Before they did this, it was just trails that the deer made from years of walking. At first when I saw that they did this, I was mad but then I started thinking about it more. 100 years ago, what was the area like? Wisconsin used to have a lot more prairie land before we turned it all to farm land. Was this area prairie or wet lands of what before humans changed it?
The first spring flower I found, the wood flower (Viola papilionacea). It is actually the state flower of Wisconsin and is the state flower to a few other states.
One of the most identifiable bird call imo is the Cardinal. Its also one of the easiest birds to see because of the color. Males are the bright red to attract females for mating.
Last wildlife I found was 5 White tail deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Once again, no frogs sadly. Hopefully I’ll have better luck next time.
