Grouse mating and frog croaking

One of the amazing things about living in Bath County is how many "nature channel" moments a person can have just by walking in the woods. Indeed just by living here. A city friend emailed me over the weekend about his trip out into the country and how he enjoyed hearing the wood frogs. Someone who lives locally also emailed me this weekend to tell me the wood frogs were croaking in the pond in her back yard.

I took advantage of the great weather on Saturday to take a walk part way up Alleghany Mountain on a Forest Service trail off Route 600 north of the Dominion Pumped Storage Plant. The wood frogs in the vernal ponds at the upper end of the Back Creek property were so loud that I could hear them a half mile up the mountain.

The habitat along this trail is mostly dry shale with mixed pine and small oaks. One place along the trail is very much like a shale barren. I will have to go back in a couple of months and see if any of the shale barren endemics like Kate's Mountain Clover or Shale Barren Leather Flower are growing among the pines and bare shale. I'd like to find some local locations for these plants that are on public property but require a little walking to see.

My big experience of the day though was walking up on a grouse mating area. This spot couldn't have been created on purpose any better. An old log, mostly hollow, with an open end was situated in such a way that it was rotting. The base end reminded me of an old victrola speaker and I'm sure the male grouse found it effective when drumming. A couple of old logging roads converged to create an small opening in the woods with big old grape vines and shrubs around the edges.

And in this little eden, a big male grouse had taken up residence. The spot was so nice that he was reluctant to give much space when I came upon the scene. I backed off and watched as he fluffed and danced for the grouse ladies. I saw three females, but never clearly. The male put on a good show, but I did not have a long enough lens for good pictures. I was reminded that the experience is sufficient and that bringing home photos is a plus and shouldn't always be the object of my travels in the wilds.