The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
April/May 2015
Pacific Northwest
Whatever you want to call them, the spring mating rituals of animals are varied, and pretty serious, whether the commitment is long-term or short. Here are some pairs I've seen in nature this spring.
Gulls are very noisy and expressive. You'll know if a pair is refreshing their bond (gulls have long-term monogamous relationships). Lots of eye contact, conversation and mirroring activity. They also present small bits of seaweed debris to each other. Here's one pair of Glaucous-winged gulls on the dock. If all goes well this pair will prepare a nest, incubate eggs and raise their chicks to fledging.
In comparison, the mating of the Rough-skinned Newts is a quiet affair (at this stage anyway). In a shallow fresh-water pond what at first I thought was one individual was actually two when I looked at my photos. A male is clutching a female in amplexus, a still way of getting-to-know-each-other. They were doing this for at least an hour. Eventually if the female is agreeable, she will signal him, and he will dismount, presenting her with a clump of sperm. She maneuvers it to her genital opening and stores the sperm inside her body. In a few days she will start laying eggs, fertilizing them first, attaching the eggs to an underwater branch, or wrapping them in a leaf. All this is underwater.
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
Meanwhile out in a salt-water bay near my home, thousands of Hooded nudibranchs - a type of mollusk without a shell - spent several week mating and laying eggs. These nudibranchs are usually out swimming, twisting back and forth, gathering up food particles with their large tentacled hood. About a month ago they congregated in the eelgrass here, finding mates and exchanging sperm (they are hermaphrodites). Each nudibranch then grasped a strand of eelgrass, laid its eggs on it, and then died. Now the eelgrass is covered with egg masses and dead Hooded nudibranchs are floating out to sea. It's a short life for Hooded nudibranchs.
A few days ago, the delightful Pelagic cormorants at the Anacortes dock were in full breeding mode. Many have chosen their mates and were preparing their nests. The males dive underwater to collect seaweed while the females arrange it on the chosen ledge. Some were cementing their pair-bond with elaborate displays, like this couple.
Canoodling is serious business in nature. I get the impression that everything else they do is to prepare for that - propagating their kind. This is prime season hereabouts.
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The Bucket is open for nature observations in your part of the world. Spring activity?
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