There are all sorts of ways that people determine the “official” start of spring: the vernal equinox, the calendar, the first species of some damn songbird, spring break, the first whatsit flower, and so on. They’re all nonsense, as far as I’m concerned (and who else’s opinion should you need?) The real sign of spring is the appearance of the treefrogs.
Last night, I spotted this one in the usual and accustomed location (which means, on the rainbarrel) while checking out the yard not long after nightfall. This is a green treefrog (Hyla cinerea,) which seem to appear just a little earlier than the Copes grey treefrogs, at least in my experience. As noted a couple posts back, other frogs and toads may be out quite a bit sooner, often before we’ve had our last snow for the season, and to be honest, I’m not sure this one has it down right yet – we’re expected to drop down to a few degrees Celsius overnight just a little later in the week. We’re doing that warm day/frigid night thing right at the moment, though last night when I captured this it was still fairly pleasant.
But yeah, I hear ya – if the critters are going to keep choosing the rainbarrels as a perch, maybe I should make the effort to find some nice aged, wooden barrels instead, and at least give them a more rustic setting. Let me see what I can do about that.