5-28-07 Shadow Lake, River Bend Forest Preserve, Champaign County, IL

The frogs and toads were raucous tonight! It was a loud party after hours on both lakes at River Bend and I heard three species I had not yet heard at this preserve: Fowler's toads, bullfrogs and Eastern gray tree frogs. In addition, I heard at least three plains leopard frogs (I had only heard one briefly on my first visit) and the cricket frogs were still loud and insistent. American toads were still active as well in one area of Sunset Lake.

In the recording, done at the flats on Shadow Lake, you will hear the constant clicking (in large numbers, almost like the ringing of bells) of cricket frogs and the constant bleating-like sound of Fowler's toads (much more strident than the trilling of American toads). There is the softer clucking sound or a plains leopard frog repeated throughout the segment (at about 20 seconds into the segment he makes the other sound in his repertoire -- sounds somewhat like a wet rubber sole squeaking on a tile floor) and about 10 seconds in, a single croak of a bullfrog (there were only a couple of bullfrogs active at this site and they seemed rather relaxed about calling -- one croak every minute or two, but over on Sunset Lake they were much more active and competitive with a near-constant booming). In addition, at a couple of points you'll hear crickets (the insects, not the frogs) in the foreground and a guest fly-by by a mosquito.

5-20-07 Pond at Japan House, Urbana IL

Busy weekend and I wasn't able to make it out on my normal rounds of Champaign County Forest Preserve District Properties. So I took the opporunity for a quick stop in town at a spot I'd wanted to get a listen in at: the ponds at the Japan House on S. Lincoln in Urbana. I had expected more bull frogs. They were there and calling periodically, but not as many or as frequent as I had expected. Cricket frogs were plentiful and, as I was about to leave, an American toad joined in as well. In the recording here you will hear the American toad, cricket frogs, and a faint bull frog a few seconds into the recording. In addition, the blackbirds were active and noisy in the reeds and there is some distinct traffic noise from nearby Lincoln Ave.

5-18-07 Frogs and Toads of Champaign County

I really needed to do this bit of research just to help get myself up to speed on what to expect as possibilities when and where... Hope it's helpful for you too.

	species	expected frequency	expected timeframe	expected location
	American Toad (Bufo americanus)	medium	mid April - early May, but young males may call through late summer	flooded fields, ditches and other bodies of water
	Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)	common	late April to late June	flooded fields, ditches and other bodies of water
	Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans)	common	late April to August	shallow margins of lakes, ponds, marshes and streams
	Grey Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis)	rare	late April - August	woodland pools, roadside ditches and other temporary bodies of water
	Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)	common	late February - May, but some males call in autumn	ponds and water-filled depressions in upland forest
	Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata)	common	mid February - May	ditches, flooded fields, floodplain depressions and even wet areas along busy highways
	Plains Leopard Frog (Rana blairi)	medium	March - April	still water of pools, roadsides and drainage ditches, marshes and ponds
	Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)	common	April - August	permanent bodies of water in forests, prairies and disturbed habitats
	Green Frog (Rana clamitans)	medium	May - September	variety of shallow weedy aquatic habitats around lakes, ponds and streams in wooded areas
	Pickerel Frog (Rana palustris)	rare	April - May	clear cool ponds
	Southern Leopard Frog (Rana sphenocephala)	medium	late February - mid April	all sorts of shallow water haibtats
	Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica)	rare	mid March - April	shallow vernal pools and forest ponds
	information for expected timeframe and expected location directly from Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Illinois (Phillips, Brandon and Moll) available online at http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/collections/AmphReptColln/herp_links/Field%20Guide/TOC.html

5-6-07 Collins Pond, Homer Lake Forest Preserve, Champaign County, IL

It was a slow night for frogs and toads. As I made my rounds, apart from a good number of cricket frogs at Collins Pond (recording below), I heard only one insistent Spring Peeper still active in the woods across from the Walnut Hill shelter. The woodland pool where there were so many Spring Peepers three weeks ago (see April 15 entry and recording) was only mud, as was a low spot near the parking lot at Collins Pond which had had a couple of active Western Chorus Frogs during my last visit. Non-amphibian highlights of the evening included a close fly-by by a large owl (great horned?) at one of my listening stops at Collins pond and my first-ever sighting of glowworms in the woods at Homer Lake.