This was an interesting evening. I heard the first chorus for the season by Brandywine and they were Chorus frogs. Their call has always reminded me of a finger drawn across a comb. As I recall, this area has had a good population of these frogs for some time. Back when the beaver dam next to the Cuyahoga line just north of Vaughn road was filled with water, these were the first to call. Another strong area is in Hinkley, OH at the Whipps ledges and State road intersection. The next chorus was a small population of Spring peepers, about a mile south. The most interesting call, however, was the call of several Night hawks (Chordeiles minor). I have never heard them so early in the year. I didn’t think there was enough bugs flying around to eat. (Edit 4-10-2011) Was just informed that they are actually Woodcock calls! Now it makes sense!
: www.voicesinthevalley.com/sound_snapshots/nighthawk.wav

Western Chorus Frog

I have been recording environmental sounds for many years, and one memory that sticks out, is a recording session that followed a weather pattern similar to we are having today. Only the forecast didn’t call for a foot of snow! I was monitoring a pond in Hinkley, OH that had a full Wood frog and Spring peeper chorus by night fall. The day temp hit around 50 degrees and had one of those miserable all day drizzles. As the evening progressed, the temp fell pretty quick. To my surprise snow began to fall. The frogs chorus diminished as the temp continued to drop and was all but silent by the time I wrapped it up. Now, I don’t go around stalking the frogs during their daily routines, but my guess is that they burrow under the leaf liter and do just fine.Their liver converts glycogen into glucose as soon as ice begins to form around them. This process aids the cells from dehydrating, and is circulated through the cells until the heart stops beating. Urea is also involved in the cell protection mechanism along with an elevated blood clotting response. Any damage done after they thaw is minimized and the loss of blood is reduced. Wood frogs, Spring peepers and Grey tree frogs have this ability. Toads survival strategy is to burrow below the freezing line and other frogs can submerge under water absorbing oxygen through their skins. I have witnessed many Green frogs alive and hopping in temps below 32 degrees when breaking up beaver dams in the Cuyahoga Valley. They would start jumping around as soon as a log was moved disrupting their muddy resting place. It is all part of natures design!

• http://www.naturenorth.com/winter/frozen/frozen3.html
• http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/can-frogs-survive-being-frozen-0326

The annual spring migration is underway. Last post had 2-3″ snow, today there was a full day of drizzle. With temps in the 40s during the day and a nice moist atmosphere, I saw a nice range of the early spring amphibians. Several Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Frog, one Green frog (Rana clamitans): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rana_clamitans, one Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_peeper, several Jefferson salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Salamander and several Northern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea b. bislineata): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_two-lined_salamander and a Crayfish wandering around the road. I didn’t hear any calling, but I imagine the Wood frogs will be calling first. Typically the Wood frogs, Spring peepers and Chorus frogs are very close when they begin to call. The Wood frogs will only call for several days and they have a unique vocalization that sounds similar to a duck quacking. The males also give a warning call when they  are in close proximity to another, or have been mistaken for a female.I was able to get a good recording of the call, and will attach it to this post later.

2 inches of fresh snow fell last night. With temps falling and a good amount of rain, I suspected this may happen. In early spring, this is not uncommon. What I have observed is that the durations of a species mating season may be impacted. For example, the Wood Frog, Rana sylvatica will only do a strong chorus for 2-4 days if conditions are good. If their season is interrupted during that strong chorusing time, they never seem to build up to that level again. There may be stragglers, but the season in effect is cut short.

Went to Brecksville Station via the Metroparks and found that a part was closed off due to the annual salamander migration. When I spoke to the attendants, I was told that they spotted one unidentified salamander, a spring peeper and a wood frog. I continued to Brecksville Station and saw that it was closed due to the flooding of the Cuyahoga River: http://www.nps.gov/cuva/parknews/ohio-and-erie-canal-towpath-trail-closed-due-to-flooding.htm. So, I went to take a look cause that is what i do. I didn’t see any anura, but did come across several drowned Wollybears. Wollybears cannot swim, and resuscitation would have been futile. I can see why it was closed, the river overflowed it’s banks in two areas and was flowing over the towpath several inches deep. I stopped when I couldn’t see the path under the silty water. I am going to venture out tomorrow so see if I can find any anura to photograph for my site, www.voicesinthevalley.com, which will be up soon. I’m looking to use only photos that I’ve taken for visuals. It was raining and about 35 degrees with the temperature dropping between 9-10pm. Sleet started to fall in some areas. Climbing out of the valley, the ambient temp was warmer so there was only rain at the time.

Here is a sample of a Gray Treefrog, Hyla versicolor aggressive call, it is easier to hear if you wear headphones due to the overpowering trill of the main broadcast call. The call is a series of short peeps in the 4,500hz to 4,800hz range. This call occurs when 2 males are in close proximity of each other. There are several videos on YouTube demonstrating this call and the frogs relative positioning to each other. This recording was captured June 10th, 2010 in the Boston Township region of the Cuyahoga Valley towpath with the chorus originating from the canal.