Wood frogs erupt

Dozens of male wood frogs sing in the waters of a small woodland pool. These frogs are explosive in their vernal breeding habits. Over a period of a few days they enter the pool, sing and mate, leave egg masses, and depart.

I was in the Killbuck Valley of Wayne County, Ohio yesterday, mostly photographing waterfowl and other birds. While slowly driving along a country lane, I heard the frogs and of course had to stop to admire the frenzy.

A male wood frog "sings" while floating. The pouches along its sides are inflated in this shot, and the frog calls with such explosive intensity that it creates conspicuous ripples in the water. A pond such as this, full of singers, is awash in rippling frog aqua-tremors. Standing amongst a chorus of wood frogs in spring is something everyone should experience. The sound reminds people of, variously, distant ducks quacking, chuckling, or turkeys gobbling.

Here's a video of one of the frogs singing away.

A Wood Frog, in the woods

A Wood Frog, Lithobates sylvatica, peeks from a leafy shelter in a Geauga County woodland. These small frogs are conspicuous in early spring, when mating orgies occur in vernal pools. The males belt out their ducklike quacks, which can be heard for considerable distances.

As spring progresses, and rolls into summer, the frogs become much less conspicuous. One occasionally encounters a Wood Frog by sheer happenstance, as we did in this case.

I dropped to the leaf litter, to see if the little frog would allow me better views, and photos. It did, and we can see the ornate detail that makes the Wood Frog one of our handsomest amphibians.