Spring in Vermont
Kent McFarland
It may be mud season in Vermont, but there are pops of color to be found if you know where to look! From small flowers on the forest floor to fluttering moths and spotted frogs calling from the ponds, there are so many beautiful reasons to get outside and muck around. So grab your raincoat and keep your eyes and ears open for April's coming attractions.
By Megan Massa
The American Woodcock’s curious habits have given it a variety of charming common names, including bogsucker, mudsnipe, hokumpoke, and best of all, timberdoodle. A football-shaped shorebird, it possesses a long bill and a rare talent called rhynchokinesis, or the ability to independently flex the tip of their upper bill—perfect for probing the mud for worms.
As the ground thaws and mud season begins, it’s prime time to see woodcocks put on their dramatic show. In open fields surrounded by woods, starting around 20 minutes after sunset, males begin with a prelude of buzzy, nasal “peent” calls given from the ground. Each bird rotates in place before giving another peent, advertising his presence in all directions. After a few minutes of this, the real show begins.
A male woodcock lifts off from the ground, gradually ascending, wings beginning to twitter as the wind whistles through his narrowed primary wing feathers. If he encounters another male in his airspace, he gives an aggressive cackle call and may give chase. The twittering grows to a continuous, melodious whir as he spirals upwards, approaching 300 feet. He circles, chirping loudly, then tumbles sharply out of the air, zigzagging, before finishing his descent in silence, returning to the spot from which he departed.
Repetitions of this sky dance display, as many as 24 in a night, continue until twilight transitions into night and the performers retire to the brushy thickets and sheltered forests where they spend most of their time.
Don’t delay; now is the time to go woodcocking! Peak timing of this display varies from year to year, from early March to early April, likely based on suitable temperatures and ground conditions, and on timing of their arrival back in Vermont from their wintering grounds in the temperate southeastern US.
Unlike most migratory birds, which undertake an extended fall migration only to shoot northwards as fast as possible in spring to get to their breeding grounds, American Woodcocks do the opposite, with a more leisurely spring migration characterized by a high number of stops. Recent research has revealed that some females will even breed on their migration routes before flying further north!
This month, treat yourself to a woodcock display in a field near you. Find nearby woodcock sightings in Vermont eBird, or tag along in audio form.
By Brian Kron
The sound of calling frogs is one of the most surefire and pleasant signs that warm weather is coming. Vermont is home to 11 species of frog and toad, but depending on the year, you may hear as many as eight species over the course of April, starting with the Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus). Wood Frogs may start in March, with a call that sounds like a raspy quack. When assembled in large numbers, they can sound like a flock of ducks.
Typically, the second species to vocalize is the Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer), which can also start calling in March. Peeper calls often sound like a short ascending whistle, or several clear peeps, and are difficult to misinterpret, especially when they are chorusing.
The less common Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens) is another one of Vermont’s early callers, initiating courtship as early as March and continuing through the spring. Their calls typically have two parts, beginning with several clicks (described by some as a snore), followed by a brief pause, and then a series of chuckles or grunts similar to the sound of a hand rubbing a balloon.
Among the species that start calling in April, American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus) are the most common. The call of an American Toad consists of a lengthy trill that can last for 10 to 15 seconds.
The Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustris), another less common species in Vermont, also usually begins calling in April, with a call that sounds like a brief snore.
Another very recognizable and very common species in Vermont, the Gray Tree frog (Hyla versicolor) is likely to begin calling in mid to late April. Gray Tree Frogs produce loud, brief trills, and often call from shrubs and trees, hence their common name.
A Boreal Chorus Frog (Pseudacris maculata) sounds like someone running their finger across the teeth of a comb. Unfortunately, these frogs have not been heard in Vermont in many years and may have been lost from the state due to changes in climate and habitat.
In rare instances and warm conditions, Vermonters may hear the Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans) calling in small numbers at the end of April. Their calls often sound like plucking at a loose banjo string or a single gulping sound.
If you hear frogs or toads this spring, consider sharing your encounter with the Vermont Atlas of Life’s iNaturalist project!
By Spencer Hardy
For us bee biologists, nothing says spring quite like the first bumble bee of the year. Sometime between late March and early May, a loud, familiar buzz will get our attention and we will once again get reacquainted with these charismatic minifauna.
For the more casual bee enthusiasts, species in this genus offer the perfect introduction to bee watching—they are larger than other bees, common, and sometimes identifiable! Unlike some genera of wild bees, most Bombus can be identified in the field or from photographs with a little practice. There are currently 13 species of bumble bee in Vermont, and we even have an easy-to-use guide to help you get started on your bee photograph collection.
For those of you who are birders, bumble bee identification is on par with identifying Catharus thrushes. If you can tell a Veery from a Hermit Thrush, separating a Common Eastern Bumble Bee from a Brown-belted Bumble Bee shouldn’t be too daunting. Though, as with Bicknell’s and Gray-cheeked Thrushes, there are two bumble bees in Vermont (Half-black and Sanderson’s) that are best identified by measuring their “cheeks” – preferably under a microscope, though occasionally with a clear photo of the face.
In April and early May, one species of bumble bee is immediately recognizable: the Tricolored Bumble Bee. Look for a large patch of red on the abdomen of this early spring insect. If you live in the Champlain Valley, you might need to look more closely after late May to avoid confusing them with the uncommon Red-belted Bumble Bee, which has a similar abdomen pattern but with only a small black dot on the back.
Explore which species live in your area by filtering for location, and if you need help identifying the bees you encounter, consider sharing your photographs on iNaturalist. Check out these bee photography tips to get the best shot! Can’t find bumble bees in your neighborhood? Consider adding or encouraging more native plants or other habitat features!
By Amber Jones
Spring doesn’t just herald the return of birds, frogs, and bees; it also signals the emergence of many native moths, which deserve some of the spotlight.
Enter the Infant Moth (Archiearis infans). Also called the First-born Geometer because of its early emergence, these diurnal (day-flying) moths can be found in the air as early as mid-March, even with snow still on the ground. They range from Alaska to Newfoundland, from the northern United States as far south as New Jersey and are associated with mountainous or boreal areas.
As small green caterpillars, Infant Moths spend their time chowing down on their host plants: mainly birch trees, but also alder, willow, and poplar. When it comes time for them to pupate, they create a cocoon from tree bark and other debris and settle in for the long winter. In the spring they emerge as inconspicuous, mottled brown adults; but beneath those seemingly ordinary forewings are dazzling orange hindwings that can be seen during their rapid flight.
Like many butterflies, these moths can often be found “puddling” or sipping nutrients from moist soils, seeps (muddy areas where groundwater has surfaced), or even animal dung. The adults will lay their eggs on the branches of their host plant, and when the caterpillars hatch a short time later, the cycle starts all over again!
The Half-wing Moth (Phigalia titea) is another rather inconspicuous, early-flying moth that overwinters as pupae. But look closely! While the male moths have fully functioning wings, the females are flightless and only have vestigial wing buds. They must therefore await a mate right where they emerge from pupation.
And while plants begin to green up in the spring, so do some of the moths! The Joker (the moth, not Batman’s nemesis) is a beautiful example. With green wings that resemble lichen, these moths prefer coniferous host plants for overwintering as pupae. Watch for them this month, when they quietly emerge amidst the more attention-grabbing signs of spring, and you may find other early risers that typically fly under our radar.
By Kent McFarland
Spring ephemeral wildflowers are perennial woodland plants that sprout from the ground early, bloom fast, and then go to seed—all before the canopy trees leaf out overhead. Often found in calcium-rich woods alongside Sugar Maple and Northern Maidenhair Fern, they include Dutchman’s Breeches, Blue Cohosh, Wild Ginger, spring beauty, and hepatica.
The plants take advantage of the full sun reaching the forest floor during a short time in early spring. Once the forest floor is deep in shade, the plant’s leaves wither away, leaving only the roots, rhizomes, and bulbs underground.
Many of these plants rely on myrmecochory—seed dispersal by ants. The seeds of spring ephemerals bear fatty external appendages called elaiosomes. Ants harvest and carry them back to their nests just a couple of meters away to eat them (a single ant colony may collect as many as a thousand seeds over a season), and the unharmed seeds are thrown into the ants’ trash bin and eventually germinate.
Because short-distance dispersal is the norm, forest fragmentation is a threat to the survival of spring ephemerals. Once these plants are gone from a forest, they rarely return.
Long-term flowering records initiated by Henry David Thoreau in 1852 have been used in Massachusetts to monitor phenological changes. Phenology, the study of the timing of natural events such as leaf-out and flowering, helps unravel the effects of climate change on ecosystems. Record-breaking spring temperatures in 2010 and 2012 resulted in the earliest flowering times in recorded history for dozens of spring-flowering plants of the eastern United States.
Be like Thoreau and help us monitor wildflower phenology! You can enter your observations of the spring ephemerals you find this month on our site at iNaturalist Vermont. Please include at least one photograph of the plant, and in the box next to “Add a field” type in Flowering Phenology, selecting “bare,” “flower,” or “fruit.”
