Last Thursday and Friday I spent long hours at Pawlings Farm where truly hundreds of American toads were doing their annual mating dance in the vernal pools. There were not nearly as many as in years past, but still there were hundreds. I told my daughter- in- law that she and her daughter Piper should come with me to see this amazing scene. I met Lynne and Piper in our driveway and then she followed me the 30 minutes or so to Pawlings Farm. I was so excited about getting there. We got to the spot and parked. The first thing I noticed was there was no sound.... None. I couldn't hear the trilling of the toads. We walked through the fields and to the ponds and there was nothing. Oh maybe a spare one toad, but nothing! We walked on. Piper found a turtle, but that was just about the highlight of all the wildlife we saw. We walked on just at the water's edge. We found two dead toads, but all the rest were gone. It's amazing how they come, they do their stuff and they go. We did after a long while find a nice mating couple and lots and lots of long strings of toad eggs that will soon become thousands of tadpoles. They will mature into little toads and then hop back into the forest. Such a marvelous life cycle. Anyway, we had a great time even without the big crowd. Here are some fun photos with Lynne and Piper and the wildlife we did find.
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