The house I used to live in before my move to the Vineyard had a vernal pool in the backyard. I had always loved the month of March because that was when the Spring peepers came out from their winter hiding places.
Every year my family and I would have a contest to see who came closest to guessing which day we would hear the first peeper. On the average the date was usually after the 20th of the month.
We always looked forward to hearing them even though they were very, very loud. Their song would lull me to sleep while any guests at my house would complain about the noise.
Now that I live on the island I can officially refer to Spring peepers as Pinkletinks. I used to call them Pinkletinks in Falmouth but no one ever knew what I was talking about.
I read that a Pinkletink was heard on March 7th at Pilot Hill Farm. That is early for the little peepers but with the strange winter weather we have been having it doesn't surprise me.
Today I decided that I wanted to learn the origin of the word "Pinkletink". I have been searching for a while and I am not coming up with anything. I did find a reference to the word in a poem by Emma Mayhew Whiting, published in 1948.
The earliest mention of pinkletink in the Gazette archives is dated July 16, 1908: "the name pinkletink is traditional; it runs far back into the early Vineyard past."
Unfortunately I can't hear the little peepers at the house I am living in now so I have been driving to a nice spot at East Chop where I can park and hopefully hear them soon. For me the Pinkletinks are my favorite harbinger of Spring.
If anyone has any more information about the word "Pinkletink" I would be interested in hearing about it.
Back in 2009 I wrote a post on my other blog about Pinkletinks.