Spring is a wonderful time to visit the
Tualatin Hills Nature Park to watch the changes taking place, especially at the Tadpole Pond. One delightfully sunny day, we decided on the spur of the moment to take a trip there. The Tadpole Pond is a vernal pool which dries up completely in the summer, so it's a great place to find tree frogs and newts that metamorphosize into terrestrial adults, and the garter snakes that love to eat them! We looked into the pond and found diving beetles, fairy shrimp, newt larvae, tadpoles, and eggs. Then we walked around the pond. Jasper was delighted to catch three garter snakes! In exploring the rest of the park, we were lucky enough to spot three deer and four very well camouflaged rough skinned newts. As the days grow warmer, we'll be heading to more local ponds to see what we can see. If you have a favorite vernal pool, I'd love to hear about it!
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| Jasper peers at an egg mass he discovered in the pond. |
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| Indian plums are blooming all over the park. |
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| Rough-skinned newt. |
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| It must be spring if the pussy willows are here! |
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| Caught dead in his tracks when he spotted a deer. |
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| The deer peers back at Jasper. |
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