Saturday, March 28, 2009 beautiful day. drove to Marcy Pond. Ice gone. open water. waited and waited – no frogs yet. Watched surface for life – none yet. But great sighting- again this year two beautiful wood ducks. they were on the pond and took off as we approoached. Hope they nest nearby. Earl Plato

March 24, 2009. Drove the Lower Trail to the pond. Still frozen over – no wood frogs or spring peepers yet. Warmer weather coming. No ice on the road. Earl & Allison

It’s March 12th and time to tune our ears. Why? Not bird calls but frog calls. First of all we want to hear the “quack! quack! of that little masked guy, the wood frog. Timing several minutes important. They come to mate in the pond. It is a hectic time for it is a week to ten days that you hear the duck-like calls. Once mated they disappear in all directions for another year. Timing is important, eh. Like most frogs they can hear you coming on the Lower Trail. All is silence. Wait! Several minutes then comes a “quack” then another until there is another cacophany of sound. Hearing is believing. Later we hear spring peepers and the Chorus frogs – quite an spring orchestral sounds.

Daughter Allison and I checked out Marcy Woods.
Too icy-many ruts- difficult drive so backed up. Another day when ice melts down. Earl Plato

Marcy’s Woods at the south end of Halloway Bay Road is privately owned nature gem by he DiCienzo family. There is plenty to see any time of the year. Here’s what you might see flower-wise on one such spring walk in this Carolinian setting. “It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Coltsfoot and its yellow blooms were first spotted near the beginning of the Lower Trail. Soon we found delicate Spring beauties and Sharp-lobed hepaticas with their varied hues. Here too were Dutchman’s breeches and a few white blossomed Bloodroots. Then as we walked further on the rolling terrain we came to our cluster of White trillums and a sprinkling of its cousin the Purple trillium/ This is Trillium Heaven! Hill and vale now abound with trilliums. Wild leeks are still there and near the cabin we find Wild ginger. We stay on the trails as we were told. So much more to see and hear for this is bird country too. We will return.”