Wed 18 Mar 2009
Big Night!
Posted by Nicole under Surveys and Counts
[6] Comments
For those who have heard me talk about “Big Night” – Thursday night (March 19) is likely to be one. The temperatures will be perfect (around 50 degrees) and it’s supposed to rain.
“Big Nights” are the very special rainy nights in spring when amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders) by the hundreds and thousands across our county migrate from the upland forests where they spend the majority of their lives to the wetlands (vernal pools, flooded fields, ponds, swamps) where they breed.
Different species make these migrations at different times during the spring and summer. Our Wood Frogs and Jefferson salamanders had a “Big Night” on Monday night when we had that slow but drenching rain. Tonight, on my way home from work, I saw numerous American Toads crossing the roads through Waterford and Spring Peepers are heading to their breeding pools too. This Thursday, I expect we will see a huge number of American Toads and Spring Peepers headed to pools as well as Wood Frogs and various salamanders leaving the pools.
Amphibians need the rains to migrate so that their skin doesn’t dry out and similarly that’s also why night time is their choice time of the day for movement. If you have any interest in Amphibians, I urge you to go out in the rain on Thursday night near areas where you hear the spring peepers. Identify forest areas vs. wetland areas and see if you can find these migration corridors. Often, the migration corridors are transected by roads and the frogs, toads and salamanders risk their lives to cross them – and they have to do so twice a year…once to get to their breeding ponds and once to return to their forest homes.
While you’re driving, listen with the windows cracked a bit for the call of the spring peepers, but also watch the roads. What you think are leaves rustling or laying on the pavement could very likely be a frog or toad trying to cross.
If you see a place where road crossing migrations are happening please identify it by the cross streets and let me know (nhamilton@loudounwildlife.org). If the road is not busy and you can safely pull over, you can also help these little friends cross – just pick them up and carry them across the road to safety. You can learn more about our Loudoun Amphibian Monitoring Program and the Migration Mapping/Road Crossing Assists on our website.
Our LAMP Kickoff for this Saturday is currently full but if there is enough interest, I will plan a second session. Just send me an email and let me know that you’d be interested in participating in the second session.
Hope you all enjoy the Big Night and Loudoun’s wild nature!
Great article. I will be ready to see and hopefully see some frogs. The frogs near me (next to a woods) will not have a road to cross, yeah. Thanks for sharing.
Ahoy amphibians! Last night, March 18, was the first time I heard Spring Peepers here in SW VA. It’s been above freezing for just a couple of days, but one day before “Earth Day”, what a happy sound to hear.
Thanks for the kind reminder, Nicole, and wonderful watchers of our slippery friends. Without seeing them and hearing them, it just wouldn’t be spring. Sure hope one day we can find the wisdom to build passage for them on our known crossing corridors, as they do in parts of Europe. (Sure do think this’d be a better investment than more drones for the Mideast!) Peace.
Nicole,
Do you have any podcasts/recordings of spring peepers? Last night in South Riding I heard a chorus of what I thought were crickets but they could have been frogs and peepers?!
Ok, I answered my own question, wikipedia has two calls (single v. chorus) and they are clearly what I am looking for!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Peeper
Hi Janine
Glad you found some spring peeper recordings. I did get an excellent one two nights ago and I’ll do a podcast on them really soon. The wood frogs also cooperated so there will be an upcoming podcast featuring them as well
If you do find chorus frogs please do let me know – I’d love to get photos and recordings as well as document locations
Nicole
My husband & I bundled up our ds6 & dd3 at 7:30 PM, strapped on headlamp, carried a wind-up lantern, and yielded a Mag light into the Runnymeade park trails. Peepers were talking up a storm, though we did not see any. In our hour-long walk we also heard the unbelievable conversation between two very loud owls–their voices were almost human-like, though a good 30′ above our heads. I am so glad we got your link from a local board of homeschoolers, and took the children on a late night adventure! We were the only ones out, so it was magical and memorable. Thank you!