Click to hear many chorus frogs and a few spring peepers
I am happy to say that I am an official frog monitor, volunteering for the Chicago Wilderness Habitat Project; sponsored by Chicago Wilderness, Audubon, and the Cook County Forest Preserves. This means that I choose a location and document the frogs present by recording species according to their mating calls in the evening.
Why?
Because frogs are sensitive to the environment and are the first indicators that something might be askew. Scientists do not exactly know why some species are dwindling or disappearing. They need the help of citizen scientists to asses what kinds of frogs are in what locations…
…and because it’s just a whole ton of fun!
I am fortunate to have a wonderful froggie partner, a childhood friend whom I use to explore nature with at a very young age and who taught me how to eat clover (tastes like apples) and grass root! (Don’t try this at home)
We are kids again when we monitor frogs.
Anyway, western chorus frogs are the first to appear in abundance in the spring, followed by spring peepers. They are tiny little guys, but you never really see them when you monitor, that is why you have to learn their calls.
I hope you enjoy the calls from the chorus and peeper frogs!
Let's Paint Nature! 
We have lots of frogs around our little pond (I’ll post a picture of it at my pottery blog), but I don’t know what kind they are. Too bad you’re not around. You could tell me. 😉 Only they’re not around yet. They know better than that. We’re supposed to be getting a big snowstorm tonight. It’s snowing–hope they’re wrong about the “big” part. I love your frog pictures–your frogs must not be as shy as ours are.
Very cool on the volunteering. We have hundreds of frogs throughout our neighborhood. Some of them almost sound like bleating sheep.
Cindy: “only they’re not around yet”, is the key phrase! Frog species call at different times of the year. You can identify a frog by it’s call and when it is calling. For example, Western Chorus frogs are the first in abundance to call in my area (March & April). It helps to identify them by the time they call. Hope this helps 😉
Lana: Thanks! I laugh at the sheep sound! How cool 😀