Volunteers needed to monitor frogs

Maine Audubon seeks volunteers to listen for and note the sounds of frogs along specific roadside routes on several evenings from early spring through summer for the Maine Amphibian Monitoring Project.

“Citizen science” volunteers are needed for roadside routes in Dedham, Ellsworth and Monroe Center, among others.

“With winter hanging on for so long this year, many are anxious to hear the quintessential sound of spring in Maine: wood frogs and peepers,” said Susan Gallo, a Maine Audubon biologist who coordinates the project.

Begun in 1997 by Maine Audubon and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the monitoring project provides important data to assess amphibian populations across Maine as part of an effort coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Those interested in participating should call Susan Gallo at 781-2330, ext. 216, or

sgallo@maineaudubon.org.

Volunteers conduct surveys first in early spring to hear spring peepers and wood frogs, then in late spring to hear American toads and northern leopard and pickerel frogs, and finally in early summer for gray tree, green, mink and bullfrogs. They make 10 stops along their routes, waiting five minutes at each stop and noting the frog species they hear.

Surveys take about two hours to complete and must be conducted after sunset.

Volunteers should be able to make a three-year commitment to the monitoring project. Prior knowledge of frog calls is helpful, but training material and an audio quiz are available at www.pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp.

Those interested in participating should call Susan Gallo at 781-2330, Ext. 216, or sgallo@maineaudubon.org.