Mild days may yield surprises

Posted 8/21/12

It was the last week in November, a few days before Thanksgiving, when I was driving in the pre-dawn darkness on a quiet road. A steady rain was ushering in a couple of days of unseasonably mild …

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Mild days may yield surprises

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It was the last week in November, a few days before Thanksgiving, when I was driving in the pre-dawn darkness on a quiet road. A steady rain was ushering in a couple of days of unseasonably mild weather for this time of year. A few leaves were on the wet road, and all seemed normal until one of the leaves hopped. A look at the size of the hopping “leaf” and the length of the hop indicated that it could be an American toad. The rain may have displaced our amphibian friend from its hibernacula, and as I veered around it to ensure it would find new digs for the winter safely, I wondered what other creatures might take advantage of this November warm spell.

The following two days were mild, with some scattered clouds for a part of one of the days. I found a variety of insect life in the forests: many flies, some snow fleas, spiders, and a couple of small moths. Some wooly aphids were also spotted flying. Most of the insect life was of the smaller species. No mourning cloak butterflies chose to leave their winter hiding spots (they are more frequently seen on milder February or March days; see the River Talk of April 5, 2012 for more on this fascinating butterfly (www.riverreporter.com/column/river-talk/7/2012/04/04/harbinger-spring).

Many insects and other small invertebrates reach the end of their lifecycle by the time the first hard frost arrives. However, there are many that either hibernate or find sheltered places to survive over the winter. When a warm spell occurs over winter, some of these critters may show themselves to you or to opportunistic birds, which relish a nice snack during the winter. The included images in this week’s column show just a few of the creatures that I saw.

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