Frogs, in the key of F#

[John K Jordan]

A few minutes ago my dogs alerted me to a strange sound. It was so unusual I thought it was an artificial sound so I grabbed some personal protection and a powerful light and went for a walk looking for the source. I think we have some new frogs in my little pond behind the barn. I've heard a lot of frogs over the years, sometimes a deafening but not unpleasing cacophony of sound.

This sound was different - tone clean tones, one after the other. I heard maybe 4-5 seconds of a continuous and nearly pure F# tone (above middle C) followed by a similar tone a step higher at G#. Then it repeated, sometimes right away, sometimes with a short pause. It wasn't a distinct trill and wasn't the least raspy, gravely, or warbly.

One frog with two notes? A male and female posting on frog snapchat? I've never lived close to a pond and have not heard this type sound since I dug this little pond, maybe 8 years ago. Maybe everyone else but me has heard this kind of frog! I checked some frog sound ID web sites and couldn't find it. (TN frogs on this one: http://www.leaps.ms/soundpage.htm) I didn't think to try to record the sound.

Anyone know frogs?

JKJ

[Frederick Skelly]

Sounds interesting. I didn't even know there were Frog sound ID web sites.

[Wayne Lomman]

Can you go back, record the sound and upload it? I'm sure there are researchers that want this kind of information, I just can't remember who. All I know is that if you have frogs, your ecosystem is healthy.

We have had a bit of rain the last two weeks and the frogs at the back of our house have come back to life finally. That tells me these are the opening rains for the season at last. Cheers

[Lee Schierer]

Our frogs are still under 16" of snow.

[John K Jordan]

After I thought about recording I heard the first tone again but not the second, then silence. The sound was not very loud, at least compared to the "normal frogs" so I might have to get close. One problem is when I get close to that back field everything goes silent.

I did notice something new in the pond this year - an egg mass about the size of a tennis ball, unlike the usual frog eggs. From the amphibian egg mass ID web sites it appears to be a salamander egg mass, possibly a spotted salamander. (yes, there are such sites - who knew? :))

It's really nice to see the tiny pond this active. I watched a big turtle all last summer. I never saw it out of the water but I could track it's movement on the bottom by the bubbles. It would stick its nostrils out of the water to breathe and I could see the huge head but nothing else. If it saw me it was gone. The bats have returned too, after years of absence. They swoop within a foot of the surface. Dragonflies, water striders. On a summer night I see huge clouds of tiny swimmers attracted to the light - I need to look at them up close. Earlier this week I got out the microscopes and my grandson, 7, got to watch microscopic swimmers cavort in a drop of the water. The hawks and guineas like to hunt there and I've seen a female wild turkey and a blue heron hang out there several days at a time.

This winter we had a cold spell and got 5" of clear ice on the top which I suspect depleted the oxygen levels since I found some large bluegill frozen in the ice. I broke the ice with the bobcat but I was afraid everything had been wiped out. But I've noticed signs of fish in the last month so maybe the smaller ones survived. I keep a pump there and aerate every few days for most of the year and toss some catfish feed. The little pond is really too small to be self-sustaining, needs to be at least 4 times the current size - I dug this hole mostly to see if it would hold water. One goal was to have a backup water source - when I put the horses in that field they seem to prefer to drink from the pond rather than the watering trough!

Good clean fun.

JKJ

[John K Jordan]

Our frogs are still under 16" of snow.

I well remember PA winters! (a little south of Pittsburgh) I remember temperatures below -10 F, 20+" of snow, fun when you are a kid. I like the winters in TN better!

I lived in PA from age 2 until I headed off to college about 50 years ago. Then I lost my mind and followed a girl south - I'm still making coffee for her every morning. :)

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Probably a tree frog. They “peep” more than “croak.” We have a frog called the “Coqui”, which is named after the sound it makes- “ko-KEEE” I sleep well when they are singing.

[Jim Becker]

Any frogs living in our small patio pond are still enjoying a winter nap...the rest became "frog-cicles" and are no longer resting with the fishies. (A few fishies also "cicled" out this year sadly; some of the oldest shebunkins as a matter of fact.

[Mike Null]

We have a lot of tree frogs but we don't see them until warm weather. They are tiny and noisy. For some reason they like to cling to the grill under the cover.

[Lee Schierer]

This winter we had a cold spell and got 5" of clear ice on the top which I suspect depleted the oxygen levels since I found some large bluegill frozen in the ice. I broke the ice with the bobcat but I was afraid everything had been wiped out. But I've noticed signs of fish in the last month so maybe the smaller ones survived. I keep a pump there and aerate every few days for most of the year and toss some catfish feed.
JKJ

A neighbor just south of us has a windmill that pumps air into a bubbler in their pond all winter. Despite all our show and cold, part of the pond was open above the bubbler all winter.

[Jim Becker]

Lee, we use a bubbler even in our small patio pond in the winter because the really bad cold-snaps cause the normal water flow to become inoperative, given some of the infrastructure is above ground. A real cold-snap will ice over, but the bubbles are still there under the ice providing oxygenation for da fishies.

[John Ziebron]

Maybe Kermit having some fun.:D

[John K Jordan]

I heard them again a just now. This time there were more "singing" at once and they were more off key. The loudest pitch was lower. The "voice" was a little more gravely/warbly/trilling, maybe they are getting some practice or maybe I just couldn't hear the trills through the woods last night. They are joined tonight by other species, starting their croak fest.

JKJ

[Ted Calver]

I can't be the only one thinking of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVcbasIb8lQ

[John K Jordan]

I can't be the only one thinking of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVcbasIb8lQ

Well if just you and me, you'd be the only one thinking of it! I've never seen that. Maybe since I don't watch TV....

I'm going to head down to the pond when it warms up today and see if I can spot any unusual frogs. I can usually see them with binocs from a distance before they jump.

[Lee DeRaud]

I can't be the only one thinking of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVcbasIb8lQI was just about to ask if he lived near a brewery... :)