Doing a ‘frog roll’ as summer wanes

HOLDEN – Several Audubon naturalists were walking on the mowed paths that meander through the fields at the Fields Pond Audubon Center. A sound, a high “Dreet,” came from up in the trees.

It was the call of just one spring peeper. They call in the fall, from now until mid-October, but just one little voice at a time – never the deafening chorus of spring peepers in May. The voice from up in the trees reminded us that spring peepers are tree frogs.

The sensitive ferns are turning brown, showing their sensitivity to cold.

We looked at one arched-over fern – there was a spring peeper, perfectly camouflaged on the light brown of the fern! We bent down to get a good look, admiring the tiny little spheres at the end of its toes, and the different shades of buff and brown on its moist skin.

Some sensitive ferns were still green – and on a green frond was the other Maine tree frog, the gray tree frog! Not two feet away from the spring peeper!

This was a wonderful find, too. The tiny froglet was about three-fourths of an inch long and bright lime green. Within two minutes and two feet, we had made a clean sweep of Maine’s tree frogs! Our tree frogs are every bit as beautiful as the red and blue tree frogs one sees in calendar photos.

As we continued our walk, suddenly another frog leaped from the path into the tall grass of the meadow. We followed the frog’s speedy, long, low hops as it tried to get away from us. It was amazing how fast its slippery body shot through the tangled grasses. Quick glimpses showed that it was a leopard frog – bright green with round, well-defined spots.

Leopard frogs are often called “meadow frogs,” because they disperse from their natal ponds to feast on the abundant insect life in meadows.

Now we were on a “frog roll” in our walk of only about 10 minutes and 150 feet. We made a quick stop at the “frog pond,” knowing we could easily see green frogs and bullfrogs there.

Sure enough, there was the green frog. It squawked as it jumped away, reminiscent of its Latin name, Rana clamitans, “the frog that cries out.”

And there was the bullfrog, the biggest species in Maine. Within 15 minutes we had found five of the nine frog species found in Maine.

Fun is done, time to get back to work. We would have had to search hard to find the others at this season – pickerel frog in the meadow, wood frog on the damp leafy ground in the forest, mink frog in the Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge, and the toad – not sure. We haven’t found one yet at the Fields Pond Audubon Center. Maybe in your garden?

For information on Fields Pond Audubon Center, call 989-2591.