TOLEDO BLADE (Ohio) 22 April 08 Toads' chorus signals arrival of warmer weather (Steve Pollick)
If you were not outside around a wet creek-bottom last Thursday night under the bright three-quarter moon, you should have been.
You missed a natural ode to joy, the singing of the American tree toads, on their spring opening night.
Along the north branch of Muskellunge Creek in Sandusky County and on down the stream's main stem as far as my ears could hear, knots of toads trilled their high-pitched song as only they can do.
The balmy, moonlit air added ambience that just made it feel good just to be alive, then and there. It was a piece of natural heaven, like being surrounded in nature's amphitheater.
"They seem to go on forever," said Debbie Haubert, a naturalist with the Sandusky County Park District. She, too, was afield Thursday after dusk, at the park's White Star Wetlands near Gibsonburg, and she witnessed the magnificent toadsong as well. "They were singing with everything they had. You could tell they were pent-up."
Kim High, a Toledo Metroparks naturalist, heartily agreed about the major eruption from American toads. "They're having an extremely good year. Last night [the 17th] was a peak for them. I've heard them like I've never heard them before."
High noted that the U.S. Geological Survey and National Wildlife Federation have teamed up for FrogWatch USA, which enlists the public to monitor frogs and other amphibians. Their Web site, nwf.org/frogwatchUSA, even presents recordings of various species to help tune up your ears.
Haubert said that some western chorus frogs also were joining the toads in song. Their song also is high-pitched, but the naturalist likened it to the sound made by dragging your thumb across a nylon or plastic comb.
Other frogs to listen for as spring warms up, Haubert said, include the northern leopard frog, which emits a deep "snoring" sound or a low - real low - growl. "They like to be softer and quieter. They like warmer temperatures, like green frogs and bullfrogs."
Ever familiar bullfrogs, the naturalist said, won't be making their noisy appearances until May or June. But she gives this rule of thumb for listeners: The bigger the frog, the lower their sound.
Another popular singer is the spring peeper, which Haubert says sings a "peep-peeper!" song as individuals, but many in a chorus make a song like Jingle Bells.
High likens the song of the peeper to the peeping of a tufted titmouse songbird. "They've been singing - loud - for two weeks." High added that while some naturalists like to say that peepers burst into song when water temperatures hover around 43 degrees, she is not so sure that the frogs read the anecdotal nature texts.
In related news, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has launched its 13th annual statewide frog and toad survey and is enlisting volunteers to run set routes, listening and recording numbers and distribution.
Declining populations of frogs, toads, and other amphibians have been documented worldwide since the 1980s, the MDNR noted, with habitat losses, pollution, disease, and related issues to blame.
The agency's Natural Heritage Unit has designated more than 400 routes statewide, covering wetlands sites through every Michigan county. Details are available online at michigan.gov/dnr.
Toads' chorus signals arrival of warmer weather