July, at Night

I wanted to see if there was any frog activity, though really I missed the best chances back in April and May. But Cricket Frogs call and breed throughout the year, and it’s always fun to see the preserve at night.

But the planned time only involved a little bit of “night.” Who planned this thing, anyway? Oh yeah, I did – but starting at 8:00pm means starting a little before sunset this time of year. And it was kind of hot, and kind of muggy, but that didn’t stop the six of us from taking a walk.

We looked for turtles at the south pond, and we saw several heads pop up at the surface to get a breath of air. And we spotted a couple of juvenile Red-eared Sliders cruising along the algae mats near the boardwalk. In the photos you can catch a glimpse of that red patch behind the eye that gives this subspecies its name.

We didn’t see frogs at that pond (though we briefly heard some Cricket Frogs calling), so we headed for the north pond. Past the parking lot, at the trailhead, an Eastern Cottontail was getting ready for its nighttime adventures. My photo is not well-focused; Robbie’s was better. The rabbit sat warily but wasn’t spooked. He or she has probably seen lots of people before.

At the north pond, we again did not see frogs. But it was getting dark, and along the ground my headlamp began to reflect tiny greenish pinpoints of light. These were my light reflected in the eyes of all the Wolf Spiders that hunt at night. They really won’t bother you, and hopefully seeing all those glistening jewels in the leaf litter wouldn’t creep anyone out. If we bothered them by grabbing one, it might bite but it would be nothing serious – medically insignificant.

At the big pond, Glen found a Striped Bark Scorpion and made the little guy fluoresce by shining a UV light on it. The scorpion made a pretty little outline along the ground.

There were a few Cricket Frogs calling, again only very briefly. We had to separate them from the chorus of cicadas and other insects. What an interesting little concerto of several insect species with their own distinctive voices. It made the walk back very pleasant.

I’d like to try this again before long. Maybe we can pick the least hot and humid night we can find in August and get a little later start, and listen to the songs of the night.