Re: [vernalpool] Re: where are peepers

When the peepers were calling this year I was in Southborough on the
Framingham line by the reservoirs, and I had never heard anything like it;
the critters were screaming so loudly it sounded like there was a stampede
underway. I was startled, and wondered if it was just normal for that
location. Most of the peeper choruses I have heard over the years had a
charming and calming quality while you listen. This was nothing like that
- it was insistent, dramatic and intensely loud. As if everyone showed up
at the same time and wanted to be heard! "Pick me pick me pick me!"

On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 12:07 PM, Bryan Windmiller <bwindmiller@gmail.com>wrote:

> **
>
>
> Thanks Fran for raising the silent peeper issue. I was planning to also
> write something about the same topic.
>
> I am not convinced that peepers will show up again as usual. There have
> two nights with ideal pepper calling conditions locally (near Concord, MA)
> in the past week - last Wednesday 3/28 and this past Sunday, 4/1. Both
> times, I heard no peepers. On the 28th, I drove through Assabet River NWR
> at dusk with the temp around 50F and a drizzle but totally silent. Peepers
> often call in MUCH colder and nastier conditions.
>
> Although it is premature to pronounce this the end of spring peeper
> breeding locally - only time will tell that - it is certainly weird that
> they are dead quiet and have been since we had a little cold (e.g. more or
> less normal) snap. My guess at this point is that the freakily warm
> weather, followed by a cold snap and a prolonged winter drought, somehow
> screwed up their breeding cues and that very many of the males may have
> just called it a spring and gone home to feed.
>
> The start to 2012 in northeastern Mass. (Jan 1. - March 31) has been BOTH
> the warmest AND driest in some 150 years by a LARGE margin. Check out this
> bit of info. from the Blue Hills Observatory comparing this year's weather
> to their record dating back to the latter half of the 19th century (source,
> http://www.bluehill.org/discussion.txt):
>
> Yikes!
> Bryan
>
> The average temperature for March through the 31st was 43.4 deg F.
> March 2012 finished 2nd warmest on record by just 0.1 degree.
>
> BHO Warmest March, 1885-2012 (deg F)
> 1) 43.5 in 1946
> 2) 43.4 in 2012
> 3) 42.7 in 1945
> 4) 42.2 in 1903
> 5) 41.5 in 2010
> *January-March 2012 finished as the warmest start to any year on record.
> The average temperature from January 1st through March 31st is 36.3F.
>
> BHO Warmest January-March, 1886-2012 (deg F)
> 1) 36.3 in 2012 [NEW RECORD]
> 2) 35.0 in 2002
> 3) 34.7 in 1998
> 4) 33.9 in 1990
> 5) 33.2 in 1953*
> *The total precipitation since January 1st through March 31st is 6.09
> inches. January-March 2012 finished as the driest start to any year on
> record.
>
> BHO Driest January-March, 1886-2012 (inches)
> 1) 6.09 in 2012 [NEW RECORD]
> 2) 7.20 in 1947
> 3) 7.39 in 1985
> 4) 7.92 in 1894
> 5) 7.97 in 2004
> *
> BHO Highest Monthly Average Temperature Departures (1885-1998)
> 1) [+10] January 1913
> 2) [+9.6] March 1946
> 3) [+9.4] January 1932
> 4) [+9.0] January 1937
> February 1984
> 5) [+8.9] March 2012 **
>
> ** corrected from yesterday's report of of +9.0
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>

--
Pat Lebau
https://sites.google.com/site/patlebauyoga/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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