Signs of Spring, in the park and on the web

A few days ago my daughter and I were walking along the Sligo near Wayne Avenue when we found ourselves surrounded my a magnificent number of birds. A mixed flock descended around us on the path. There were chickadees, titmice, and cardinals. Scores of robins were plucking through the leaf litter with their beaks, looking for the first worms of the spring season, and as we stood and admired the sight, I was delighted to notice something unusual.

Photo: Julie Wiatt

"Look," I told my daughter. "Cedar waxwings!"

All around us, just inches from my face, the seldom-seen birds searched out berries to eat. With tufted heads that look slightly like cardinals and magnificent plumage like burnished brass, they were simply breathtaking. To me it looked as if each one was wearing an elegant mask, like someone ready to attend an elegant costume ball.

My daughter saw it differently. "Oh Mommy," she said softly. "They look just like little penguins." She was right. We went on watching silently as the birds excitedly hunted out their lunch among the brambles on the side of the creek.

Spring is full of these moments--times when you suddenly find yourself in the presence of natural and unexpected beauty, when a little visual treat presents itself, sometimes even in the middle of a busy urban park or crowded street. Like having a juicy piece of gossip, I find myself wanting to tell everyone about it right away, even people that don't really care so much about nature.

This happens a lot when I hike along paths. I get excited about something I see and then I try to tell the next person who comes my way, no matter who they may be. I sometimes find their reaction underwhelming or even disappointing.

One time in particular really sticks in my memory. I was hiking in Patapsco Valley State Park and was lucky enough to cross paths with several different kinds of small, harmless snakes throughout the morning. To me the encounters were filled with pure joy. I saw those encounters as a sign that the woods were teaming with biodiversity and vibrant with the wonders of the season, so when I happened upon the another group of hikers I tried to share the wonderful news. Unfortunately, they went pale with horror, and one man immediately jumped back from the trail and frantically began searching the ground for any possible snakes which might attack. Even though I explained that the animals I had seen were small, docile and definitely non-venomous, he swore he would kill the next one he saw on the path.

Most of the time walking the paths in Silver Spring and Takoma Park, however, I find others using the park are equally enthused about wildlife encounters. Perhaps this is because the sights we see around here don't often include snakes. Or perhaps its simply that in this crowded, urbanized area we are all hungry for signs that there is a least a bit of natural wonder out there if we are just willing to look in the right spots and take time to slow down and notice it.

Evidence for this exists on websites and listservs all over town. The "sightings" page on the Friends of Sligo Creek website, for example, is a great place to share information and enthusiasm about wonderful things witnessed along the Creek.

Throughout the winter, people posted messages there and on the Friends' listserv about some interesting squirrels which were spotted near the Piney Branch area of the Sligo. The squirrels, which seemed to be living near some of the area's tennis courts, were completely white.

Speculation continued as the winter went by: was it more than one white squirrel? Video taken by some diligent nature observers seemed to prove that there were at least two individual animals which were indeed all white. Were these animals albino, or some entirely different species of animal than the gray squirrels we are used to seeing? Online research conducted by Friends webmaster Clair Garman unearthed a town in the Blue Ridge Mountains called Brevard, North Carolina which is apparently full of these animals.(For more info about this interesting place go to www.brevardnc.org).

Someone from Brevard claims to have done some research on the topic and says these animals are probably not albinos, but likely "just another color variant" of the Eastern grey squirrel since they seem to lack the pink eyes of albino animals. Someone later posted a message on the Friends' list, saying they thought maybe one of the animals they had seen in the Sligo might have pink eyes, however, so the debate continued for a while after that.

Since I haven't yet seen these interesting animals myself, I can't really voice an opinion. But I am enjoying the online conversation immensely and am excited to know that so many people are out there enjoying the wildlife present in our park.

Meanwhile, as spring continues to come on full force, I'm hoping more people will use the sightings page of the Friends website, and I'd like to especially encourage people to use the space to post information about native wildflowers they see when they are out walking in the next couple of months.

I have to confess that I have selfish reasons for wanting this to happen. Lately I find I am so discouraged by the state of all things environmental. I need Spring desperately, not simply because warm weather is nice but because I need to see some evidence that our own natural heritage is still out there. It feels like we spend so much time thinking of ways to get rid of the problems: slow down the fast-moving stormwater, reduce or remove the pollution before it hits our creeks, cut back and remove the invasive exotic plants which threaten to overrun our green spaces. I need to know that underneath it all, spring is happening. Our spring, the warm, gentle season which makes you fall in love with the woodlands of the Eastern United States. That ephemeral spring which is full of dog-toothed violets and bluebells, trilliums and jack-in-the-pulpits. I don't want to just visit natural places as if to visit tree museums. I don't want to just remember what it was once like, I want to see that it is still out there somewhere, not too far away, just waiting for me.

So if you are out walking in the Sligo this spring and you come upon a lovely sight such as a hillside dappled with spring beauties, a quiet full corner full of golden ragwort, or a flock of migrating warblers, get online at www.fosc.org/sightings.htm and give us all a shout. Better yet, if you have photos, send them along to Clair, the Friends webmaster. He'll post them up there for us all to enjoy. These wonderful encounters deserve a celebration, as they are important evidence that spring has come again.

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