Snapper

Time to Go Again ` Earl Plato
Take ‘slices of life’ when you can. Elaine and I and six others from Fort Erie headed to Mackinac Island in Upper Michigan. This would be a look at the natural and historical views of this gem of an island. If you have been there you know what I mean. I will have a few nature views from our bus trip there in mid-June.
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A Seburn is a Seburn? Could be. Tim Seburn of Fort Erie has a life time interest in reptiles and amphibians. I consider him one of the more knowledgeable local people in this environmentally concerned area.
Dave Seburn is a working Canadian biologist. Any relation? I don’t know. It is Dave whose research is cited in an intertview by Margaret Munro in the National Post. The header says, “Silence of the frogs spooks ecologists.”
Dave travelled this spring to 20 locations in Southeastern Ontario looking for and listening for the peeps of the Western chorus frog. Guess what? Not a peep!
“It’s very strange,” says Seburn, who like many biologists, worries about the decline of the world’s amphibians.
Ask Tim Seburn and he might say that habitat destruction and pollution are two of the main causes of the increasing deaths of our frogs and toads. Remember, because these amphibians have both water and land life stages they are among the most sensitive living environmental indicators. Folks, they are disappearing around the world.
Dave Seburn closed the informative article with, “If it affects frogs, there is a good chance it affects us too,” he says, “We’re all biochemical beings.”
Ontario, strengthen our anti-pollution laws and crack down on industrial air polluters! What’s the alternative?
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Record heat at Marcy Woods? Mid- 30 degrees C. I think so. Rob Eberly, local naturalist, picked me up about 9:30 a.m. Out to Point Abino Road where Rob had seen a snapping turtle lay eggs the day before on the gravel roadside. No snapper now but a little Eastern mud turtle. Rob stopped and picked it up and placed safely beyond the stone wall. We could see where the snapper had disturbed the gravel.
Where was Rob taking me? I was just glad to be along. You younger naturalists don’t forget us old timers when you go for a ramble. I know I appreciate any opportunities.
Next to Matthew Road and a deadend. Into the wetlands and the high grasses. Warblers? Common yellowthroats, yes but Rob was on the lookout for the rare Prothonatory warbler. I followed him to the drainage ditch and walked west to the old bridge. We listened for any warblers. Rob scared up a female Wood duck but there were few birds. We heard a Phoebe in the distance. Getting warmer and warmer. Wait until Elaine sees my clean pants. More and more rich black mud on the cuffs but that’s nature.
On to Marcy Woods and the cabin. Bird Studies Canada were here looking for the nesting sites of the Hooded warblers. Later on we met them. They’re professionals but just the same it was hard work under these conditions of heat and humidity.
Rob is a birder but his goal this day was to see a Hog-nosed snake! No kidding. On the dunes and along the crests we plodded. Would a Hog-nose be sunning itself? That was Rob’s desire. This was not an easy walk. We eventually came to the Malick’s. This was one location where Hog-nosed had been seen. We talked with Ken Malick and then Rob walked westwards on the lawn area. No Hog-nosed this day.
Later Rob talked with the ornithologists before we left and headed for a cooler place. One of them told us how secretive the nests of the Hooded warblers can be. I hope that they can find the nests of these rare birds. Marcy Woods is a great place to be.