Spring Peepers

It is definitely early this year, but last night I heard the thrilling (at least in my mind) trill of the spring peepers as I cruised home from work.  They are in my mind the second harbinger of spring!  Can you remember the first?   A few years ago there was a scuttlebutt that if I remember properly involved some East Marlborough residents complaining about a noise violation....guess who the culprit was?!  I know you've seen the photo before, but I just can't resist showing it again.  Can you believe how tiny these guys are?  They do make quite the ruckus, but a noise violation, come on guys!  The sound is coming from the males calling for the females to mate.  The coloration of the animals can vary but they all have an X on their back. They are fairly nocturnal, so you rarely get a glimpse of them!

To me, all that ruckus means that the sweet sound of spring is here (and my favorite season is not far behind!) If you haven't been privileged to hear the ruckus, click on the brief video to hear the sweet sound of spring.

This of course means that your invasive control "to-do" list has gotten very long very rapidly! I just saw my first celandine in bloom today, along the Brandywine of course.  Tomorrow, we'll discuss the other invasive of spring that has already presented itself: Alliaria petiolata.  I'll leave you to mull over the common name until tomorrow when we'll discuss control, identification, and it's horrible allelopathic tendencies.