Spring is Peeping

These are the eggs I got from the nest box yesterday.  I haven't been checking every day, but this is the first time there was more than one egg in the box.  I have been noticing signs of spring everywhere.   

Early last week I was working outside and heard strange gurgling noises approaching from the sky.  It was a large flock of whooping cranes!  They circled overhead for a few moments and while I was trying to figure out what they were doing, their calls got louder and I saw another smaller flock approaching.  The two flocks merged and flew in a spiral pattern up and up, calling to each other until, all of sudden, they formed a giant W and flew away in a northwestern direction.  It was a beautiful thing to watch. 

The maple buds are bright red and swollen, and I have noticed wild elderberry with open buds and tiny leaves emerging.  The best sign of spring has been hearing the spring peepers at night.  These tiny chorus frogs like to mate in the warm rains in the late winter.  There are several farm ponds in the horse pasture behind our neighborhood and the peepers make a nice musical accompaniment to the hum of the hot tub, the swish of the interstate, and yipping of the neighbors dogs.   It's not the most exotic ambiance, but you take what you can get, and getting to hear the peepers is nice.   

I took these photos of some spring peepers when I was working in Eastern Kentucky several years ago.  The spring peeper is one of the easiest frogs to identify because it has a somewhat wonky looking X on it's back and a dark line on it's head that connects the eyes.  It's not always as clearly defined as the one in this picture.  They have those neet little suction cups on their toes.  I must be getting spring fever - why else would I be writing about frog toes!