(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this column.)
It’s been a crazy spring so far. After an incredibly warm winter, we may have expected an early spring, but this has not been the case.
Some frogs started singing in late March but were promptly shut down by the cold weather. A “night of the amphibians walk” planned for April 9 at the Discovery Center had to be cancelled due to six inches of snow and 20 degree temperatures.
The only advantage to frog watchers (or listeners) is that the spring frogs that gradually appear over a period of several weeks will all be singing together this year. The frogs are a lot easier to hear than see. Anyone who has a small flooded pond or roadside ditch nearby should be hearing them now.
But seeing them is a different story. Many of them are very small and all are well camouflaged. But their amorous calls that often exceed 100 decibels in volume give them away. As one approaches a pond, the frogs detect the movement and quit singing. It may take several minutes of standing very still until they resume.
Here are the frogs we can expect to hear this week.
Spring Peeper
The spring peeper is a tiny, tan and brown frog with a body length of only one to one and one half inches. Its back is marked with an ornate X. It is named after its clear peeping call. This is a small frog with a very big voice. Spring peepers hibernate under the leaf litter in area woodlands. They will return to those same woodlands after the breeding season is over.
To see and hear a spring peeper, click here.
Chorus frog
Another tiny croaker is the striped chorus frog. It is about the same size as the peeper, but has a white mustache along its lip-line and a black mask over its eyes. Its back is usually marked with three dark brown stripes. Its call is a raspy trill resembling a person dragging their thumb across a plastic comb.
To see and hear a singing chorus frog click here.
Wood frog
The wood frog squeezes all of its calling and mating activities into four or five days, and then disappears back into the woodlands from which it came. This year, wood frog singing was cut short by the cold weather, so there may still be a few of them singing.
Click here to hear the wood frog.
Spotted Northern Leopard frog
The spotted northern leopard frog is right on time and is now adding its snoring call to the chorus of smaller frogs. Because it has a much lower tone, this call is sometimes overlooked when it is competing with the higher pitched sounds of other species.
To see and hear a northern leopard frog click here.
American toad
And last but not least is the American toad. That is the one we find in our gardens and window wells and often call the “garden toad or hop toad.” It may hold the record for the longest winded frog in North America. Its trilling call sounds like someone blowing a sport official’s whistle and may last 30 seconds or more.
To see and hear an American Toad click here.
A good place to hear spring frogs is along the spring pond trail at the Discovery Center.
