April Showers!
As we move further into spring, there's been a lot of changes happening around Sheep Pasture. The daffodils at the Carriage House have fully bloomed, buds are starting to poke out from shrubs like burning bush and barberry, and the maples have already started showing their beautiful red flowers.
One of the highlights of last month was the cacophony of the wood frogs at the pond as they mated and laid their eggs. They were so loud that you could hear them even as far away as the sheep pens - even during the middle of the day! Since then, they've slipped back into the forests and have been keeping much quieter, but their egg masses are still visible, right past the edge of the dock. Soon, they'll hatch into hundreds of little tadpoles, and they'll no doubt be joined by the next generation of leopard frogs, bullfrogs, and salamanders, too.
Just today, we had another visitor to the pond - a muskrat! I've never seen one there before, so I'll keep an eye out and see if he was just visiting, or if he's looking to move in and make a nice little cattail lodge for himself.
Our feathered friends have been active, too - every day, we're seeing some of our resident red-tailed hawks soaring over Dog Rock and the Crafter Field, and we've found a good amount of owl pellets recently. Today, I found a fresh one with mouse bones inside, clear evidence that our rodents are out and about, and keeping the raptors well-fed.
Next time you're at Sheep Pasture, make sure you keep one eye down to the ground, and one up to the sky - you never know what you'll see!
Tristan Hayes (he/him)
Environmental Educator
Natural Resources Trust of Easton
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