Let’s Talk About Parks: Spring Peepers

Spring is officially here, and with the warmer weather, there are all kinds of amazing things to see in your city parks. You’ll see budding trees in Riverview and daffodils in the Highland Park entrance garden. A keen eye will spy saplings with their tender twigs chewed off by hungry deer in Frick Park or trillium sprouts in Schenley Park. The longer days give more time to see your favorite parks as they shift into their spring colors, but it also gives you more daylight time to explore the sounds of your parks. After all, you can only see what is front of you, but you can hear in all directions.

You’ll hear birds that you haven’t heard for months, as species of geese and ducks begin to pass through our region as they return from their southern migration. You’ll hear ruffled grouse and turkeys and barn and tree swallows who are back in our area in great numbers. The scurrying noise you hear may be deer bolting away as they spot humans, and the damp, muddy ground has its own distinct sound as your shoes splotch their way through the woods.

But one of spring’s most distinct sounds is that of the spring peeper... Read full article