The wild ones From seal-watching expeditions to Roger Williams Park Zoo, Rhode Island offers plenty of springtime opportunities to glimpse the animal kingdom BY JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ
	Spring Guide The wild ones From seal-watching expeditions to Roger Williams Park Zoo, Rhode Island offers plenty of springtime opportunities to glimpse the animal kingdom By Johnette Rodriguez Great outdoors A short list of destinations for shaking off winter doldrums By Cristi Laquer Delectable delights Spring brings a cornucopia of seasonal foods By Johnette Rodriguez

MOST OF US associate spring fauna with the robin eggs that hatch above the mailbox lid every year, the hordes of ants that begin to march along the edge of the bathtub, or even a nest of tiny field mice that shows up behind the stove (discovered by an attentive house cat). We might also notice one or two squirrels scampering up a neighbor’s spruce tree to expand their yearly thicket, or a line of ducklings behind a mallard mom in a nearby stream.

But this time of year also yields a variety of other wildlife to view in Rhode Island: seasonal visitors from northern climes — four kinds of seals; seasonal visitors returning from southern regions, including numerous songbirds; and a burst of baby animals at the Roger Williams Park Zoo.

Beginning with the most out-of-the-ordinary animals — the ones living at the zoo — and working from A to Z (aoudad to zebra), you can ooh and aah over the two male aoudads (rhymes with "doodad") that were born to separate mothers at the end of February. Also known as Barbary sheep because they are native to the mountainous region of the Barbary Coast in North Africa, aoudads can clear a six-and-a-half-foot barrier from a standing start. They are also distinctive for their thick, curved horns, which can reach almost three feet in length. The aoudad lambs, named "MJ" and "RJ," are quite healthy, but would probably not be thrilled to know that they are an "intermediary species" between a sheep and a goat.

The zebra colt, known as "Mikey," was born on New Year’s Day, weighing in at approximately 81 pounds. His birth completed the family unit of Grant’s zebras (or common zebras) at Roger Williams, which includes his dad Zeke, who arrived in 2001, and his mom Samantha, who came in 2003. He and the family, along with the aoudads, are in the Plains of Africa area, but the zebras, with their slippery hooves, must stay indoors on cold or icy days.

Among the 21 managed (and threatened) species at the zoo are the babirusas, a kind of wild swine found only in Indonesia, with a very unusual face: their upper tusks grow through the top of their snout and curve backward between their eyes! The zoo currently has one expectant babirusa mom who will birth a litter of piglets in the next month. More about the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Species Survival Plan (SSP), as well as a partial listing of the SSP animals at Roger Williams can be found at: www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org/conservation/ssp.cfm.

Other baby animals to be seen at the zoo in March and April are among the native fowl, such as baby ducks in the flamingo yard, and in the insect exhibit, such as the large Brazilian hissing cockroaches that reproduce almost continuously.

If you’re going for the cute factor over the creepy one, however, you should head out to look for seals, specifically the harbor seals that migrate to Narragansett Bay from the waters off Maine and the Maritimes and can be seen from October through April. Seals can often be spotted on offshore rocks or tiny islands, "hauled out" to rest at low tide. From the seal-sighting data of Save the Bay, the most populated areas are on Hope Island, between Quonset Point and Prudence Island; at Rome Point, just south of Wickford; at Brenton Point, at the southern tip of Newport; and on Citing Rock, near Rose Island, just out of Newport Harbor.

More than 80 seals at a time have been recorded at those four spots, with another seven places where between 21 and 80 have been seen, and another eight places where up to 20 have been counted. The Rhode Island seal population has approached 300 winter residents in the past three or four years. A 40-year veteran of seal-counting on Block Island reported to Mystic Aquarium this winter that he had found 72 seals hauled out on land where he had been accustomed to seeing around 35.

The seal population has made a comeback throughout the region since a 1972 ban on hunting or harassing them went into effect. But this population increase in southern New England has only recently come under more organized scrutiny. Some observers believe it’s a case of shifting and/or increasing food supplies for the seals, a connection to the long food chain of sea life. Others are examining genetic issues, and still others point to over-crowding in northern New England and Canadian waters.

Though most seals in Rhode Island are harbor seals (five to six feet long; 250 pounds), there are occasional sightings of hooded (much smaller), harp (even smaller, with spots on the juveniles), and gray seals (larger than harbor seals, with longer, horsehead-like snouts). With colonies on Muskeget Island off the west end of Nantucket and on Monomoy Island off the elbow of Cape Cod, gray seals seem to be the only ones actually birthing in New England waters. Since gray seal pups only nurse three to four weeks before their mothers completely abandon them, these are the ones that become disoriented and end up on southern Rhode Island beaches in the winter.

Mystic Aquarium has taken in at least one stranded seal pup in each of the last three years from Rhode Island shores, nursing them back to health and releasing them into the wild. Some harp and hooded juveniles may also be so exhausted and malnourished after migrating from the Canadian Arctic that they will strand here. If you find a seal of any kind on a beach, never approach it and instead contact the stranding hotline at Mystic Aquarium: (860) 572-5955.

And if you’re out in a recreational boat, including kayaks or canoes (whose sleek profile can seem especially threatening), keep your distance from hauled-out seals. They are on those rocks to conserve their energy for when the tide comes back in, and constant frights from boaters are like Chinese water torture, putting them under severe stress. It’s recommended that you stay a minimum of 50 yards away, whether you encounter seals on a beach or out at sea.

If you choose to gaze at seals (through trusty binoculars) from land, you could try Rome Point or Brenton Point, mentioned above. But for a closer look, there are several organizations that sponsor seal watches. On a recent Saturday morning, my husband and I chose one of the Save the Bay/Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation tours, which leave Bowen’s Landing (next to Bowen’s Wharf) in Newport on Saturday and Sunday mornings. There were close to 20 of us on the M/V Alletta Morris, a 45-foot steel boat with clear plastic weather flaps on each side of the "inside" seating areas. Once Captain Eric Pfirrmann reached the general vicinity of Citing Rock, those flaps were lifted, and everyone grabbed a pair of binoculars from a large box to zoom in on the seals.

On the way out to the seals, Amy Wright gave a short talk about them, holding up drawings to show the four different kinds that are seen in Rhode Island and also a drawing that showed what a seal looks like "banana-ing" — lying on the rocks with head and tail lifted up, in the shape of that familiar yellow fruit — and "bottling" — in the water with only their nose showing. The seals we observed were primarily lounging in silvery-gray blobs, so similar to the color of the rocks that they created an optical illusion in which, with a certain blink of the eye, the image through the binoculars seemed to shift and the seals finally came into focus.

We learned that these harbor seals migrate south for the winter not just for the "warm waters," but to feed on Narragansett Bay’s plentiful supply of winter herring. We also heard that it’s not unusual to see a solitary seal, since seals do not tend to herd together, to avoid attracting attention from predators. They might, however, seek out the same rock to rest on, as the 30 we saw on that day did. Even at the considerable distance maintained by our boat in its two slow circlings of Citing Rock, our presence may have disturbed one of the seals, since he jumped in the water and continued to leap around, dolphin-like, as we headed away from his refuge.

The third category of animals to watch for in the spring is perhaps the most obvious: migrating birds, who are returning from warmer Southern regions. Migration peaks in Rhode Island in May, but even before that, there are many returnees, and it’s easiest to spot them before the trees completely leaf out and while the birds are still in their bright mating plumage.

Large flocks of redwing blackbirds are one of the first harbingers of spring, returning to both saltwater and freshwater marshes. Their typical song, which has been compared to a rusty hinge, is often heard before that flash of red on black is actually seen.

Many kinds of warblers, including the yellow warbler, return to Rhode Island to breed, and they are also often recognized first by their trilling and, well, "warbling." Birds in the woodpecker family can be spotted in leafless trees by their pecking sounds. And young ones in the fowl family that are more visible in spring are Canada geese goslings — in the large flocks that feed in open fields — and wild turkey chicks — often on the edge of woodlands.

So, everywhere we turn in the next two months, those well-worn metaphors about spring are all around us. The urge to perpetuate the species is inescapable, and whether we witness that in newborn animals, in the leave-taking of seals to head to their breeding grounds, or in the return of songbirds to nest and hatch their eggs, it is concrete evidence of nature’s cycles. It’s also an inspiration as fervent as the turning of the calendar year for our own rebirth and reinvention.

For Alletta Morris, call (401) 324-6020 to make a reservation. It leaves from Bowen’s Landing, off America’s Cup Avenue. For a complete listing of tour times, visit www.savebay.org.

For The Patriot, through Oldport Marine Services, call (401) 847-9109. For a list of tour times, visit www.oldportmarine.com.

For the Brandaris or Sea Princess, pre-register with South Kingstown Recreation Department at (401) 789-9301. It leaves from the Brown Street Dock in Wickford Harbor.