Spring PeeperExclusive Sunday Review Sketch
by 'Dennis Puleston, Brookhaven
Focus on
Nature,-
by Paul Stoutenburgh
SPRING PEEPER
Some years ago I camped near
a marsh during the springtime.
Usually this kind of area, does .
not make the best kind of camp-
site but on this occasion the song
that filled the air made all the
inconveniences well worthwhile.
During the day we could feel the
warm spring sun whittling away
at the last remains of winter.
The Red -wings : were in t h e
tree tops ruling over their terri-
tory while below the .skunk cab-
bages. were . already past their.
bloom. As the sun went down and
dusk took over, we could .hear. This chorus I speak of hearalds
an occasional peeper, but remem- , the annual pilgrimage from the
bering the old saying that "one uplands to the ponds and marshes
swallow does not make a sum- for the purpose of selecting a
mer" we hesitated to call this a maLike many birds, the males
true omen of the season. pt°„ a the females. After mating
At first only the solo broke the liar 'taken place the female pro -
silence but latter as it grew dark- ceeds to lay between 800 and
er it seemed as if all the peepers 0000 more or less separate eggs
in the area "wanted to get into on stems and twigs submerged
the act ". I remember that night below the water.
so well for I tried to locate. a Depending on the temperature,
peeper singing just outside the
tent. Silently I crept along until
I was but a few feet from his
loud call. I aimed the flashlight
in the general direction and turn-
ed it on. I couldn't find a thing!
How could this be? I searched
everywhere. He had blended in
so well with the surroundings that
no matter how closely I examined
the area he could not be found.
This game of hide and seek
came to an end when I finally
located one clinging to a stalk
of last year's goldenrod. He meas-
ured little more than an inch in
length. Just think, these small
creatu4tesdhave a voice that can
be heard over a mile away. Ima-
gine, if you can, in comparison,
what would sound like if our
voice were amplified proportiopn-
ately ': ° used by the alert classroom
As I stood Were. Z realized that teacher to awaken the -clfi1dren
this peeper 1 ' be- a ale foreilE
-to the marvels of Natural History.
they are tilt., i es vt; ca LD OBSERVATIONS:
Had it been day �' ' uxic h NOW _ GOOSE (1) seen with
identified him as a Male by'lb s. - 609 Canada Geese at Sagapon-
brown or black throat:! -The rfe- ack (D Puleston) April 2: ,
Cutchogue
male, on the other hand, has a
whiter throat region. Both, of
course, have the characteristic X
on their back which identifies this
little frog as the peeper. (Hyyla
crucifer).
Upon closer examination y o u
would also notice their toes are
equipped with little pads used to
attach theselves to the grasses in
the spring and later on to climb
about in the trees. There a r e
records . of this little climber be-
ing found sixty feet up in the
tree. tops. Nature has provided
these Sigh climbers well.
these eggs will hatch into tad-
poles in five to fifteen days. By
the end of June these tadpoles
will be large enough to leave the
water and join their parents only
to return after three or four years
when they are mature enough to
breed.
To those of you who are for-
tunate enough to find the peepers,
it might be interesting for you to
treat your family by capturing
two or three of these males and
putting them in a box with some
damp moss. If the day -is a cool
one, your peepers will be quiet.
However, when you bring them
inside where it is warm and close
the box to make it dark, you
will be rewarded b their song_
This works wonderfully with
children and it has often been
DOUBLE- CRESTED CORMOR-
ANT (1) Brookhaven (p .ules-
ton)
PHOEBES AND TREE SWAL-
LOWS are returning to th's area.
Snowy egrets (2), L R Er-
nest, April 3, Mecox. -
Please send your field observa-
tions to Paul Stoutenburgh, Box
105, Cutchogue, New York.
This column jai; attempting to
bring the reader many views on
Nature; be it . birds, insect s;
reptiles, amphibians or anAther
facet of Nature, we are going to
try to touch them all.
In order to do this, we are
inviting guest writers. The first
will be Mr Arthur Cooley w h o
teaches science in the Bellport
School. He is one of our out-
standing young natialist who is
doing much with the young people
in his area. His article will be,
"The Pheonomenal Evening
Grosbeak ".