Monday morning update: the wetlands appear to have iced over last night. I will be checking the wood frog eggs later today, hopefully they were spared from freezing.
Monday afternoon update: the wood frog eggs in the wetlands I regularly check seem to have survived the cold weekend and some have even started to develop.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great information! I heard leopard frogs this weekend at the Boulder Birding Big Day. I have been hearing chorus frogs and wood frogs by my house but still no peepers. Will the peepers come out or are they just not around my area this year?
Thanks for the leopard frog update - I'll be out at Boulder Lake this week looking for them!
ReplyDeleteRegarding spring peepers: this species usually begins calling a few days after wood frogs start. This year has been unusual with the wood frogs starting and stopping, and I first heard peepers in Duluth on April 25th. If you are not hearing peepers, your local population may have been reduced by winter kill or unsuccessful breeding in past years. My experience is that it takes several years to a decade for spring peeper populations to recover from cold, snow-less winters - although somewhat frost-tolerant, peepers cannot freeze as completely as wood frogs.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI just heard my first spring peepers in my yard! I'm so glad - I thought they would never come. I think I also heard an American Toad. Are there Canadian Toads around here? If not, then is must have been an American. So, tonight the symphony includes chorus frogs, peepers, and toads. Awesome!