northeast-flora-and-fauna

Though I got some pictures of Wood Frogs earlier in the season and had been hearing the small/elusive Spring Peepers about that time, it was only about 5 weeks ago that I started seeing one of our most visible frogs, the American Bullfrogs . I've talked before about how to differentiate them from their Green Frog cousins (hint: it's all about the dorsolateral ridges), a fairly similar frog that starts appearing about the same time of year. This wasn't my first bullfrog picture of the season but was one of the most handsome. I think they tend to look a little discolored and emaciated very early in the spring. A few weeks later they seem to regain their plumper and greener appearance. May 13, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 199462915, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) By way of comparison, here's one of the 1st pictures I got last year. April 13, 2021 at Delaware Raritan Canal Photo 121031804, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another sighting that I should have posted earlier when you might have had a (good) chance to encounter them. At Duke Island Park about a month and a half ago I heard vocalizations that (to me) sounded a little like soft clucking noises. Suspicious of what might be making the sounds, I went a little off trail to a vernal pond and was rewarded with Wood Frogs . Wood Frogs are right up there with the (louder) Spring Peepers as the earliest frogs you're liking to encounter as winter recedes. They're fairly tolerant of cold weather and are fairly vocal themselves, though they may not sound like what you'd expect from a frog. These frogs are identified by a dark "mask" that starts as a line at the nose and widens after the eye. March 14, 2022 at Duke Island Park Photo 186587399, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The only thing that was a little disconcerting about the frogs is their aggressive, sometimes murderous mating. The males are so eage...