7/23-25/07 Eleven Point River, S.E. Missouri

July was busy and I didn't get out to my normal haunts at all for frog call surveying. I did take a wonderful three-day, thirty-five mile canoe trip with my son Jason on the Eleven Point River in South East Missouri. I don't have any recordings, unfortunately, but although we heard some bullfrogs and some cricket frogs, by far the most common calling frogs were green frogs. They were spread out down the river, normally one per vegetated area along the side of the river. There were sometimes two or three in an area, but across the river or down the river from each other-- never it seems calling from the same patch of plants. Ahh, and the first night we camped at the campground associated with the folks we were renting our canoe from, there was a tree frog in the shower (pictured above)-- an eastern gray tree frog I believe, though the calls I heard were not exactly like what we have here in Central Illinois, but I've been told there are "dialect" differences through the ranges of the varous frogs. Unfortunately, again, no recording.

6-29-07 River Bend Forest Preserve, Champaign County, IL

A lot of rain during the week had reflooded a meadow that had been full of American toads on my first visit. At that time, the American toads were all but deafening at this location and at my next visit two weeks later there was nothing but mud. Tonight there was one insistent American toad, a few plains leopard frogs, a whole chorus of Fowler's toads and even a few cricket frogs. In the recording, you'll hear an American toad followed by a couple of plains leopard frogs (the clucking sounds) followed by the American toad again joined by the Fowler's toads. The cricket frogs, unfortunately, are not audible in this recording.

6-23-07 Shades State Park, IN

Yes, I call this the Frog Blog of Central Illinois, but after a couple of weeks being too busy with family things to get out to do frog call surveying, I couldn't resist posting this recording done at Shades State Park in Indiana while on a camping trip this past weekend with my son Stephen. We arrived much later than we had intended on Friday night and were setting up our tent by flashlight. I became aware of a chorus of E. gray tree frogs at some distance, so though it was after midnight, Stephen and I went for a walk and were able to track them down more or less. There was no direct access to the lake where they were from where we were that we could find at night so the recording is done from the opposite side of a wooded area bordering the lake. In the recording cricket frogs are also audible. When we got near enough to record I was excited to hear quite a number of green frogs calling too, but unfortunately their calls are subdued enough they are not audible on the recording at the distance we were. After tracking down the lake the next day I had wanted to return that night to try to get a good recording of the green frogs, but that night there was a thunderstorm -- not conducive to tramping through the underbrush to the edge of the lake or recording either one.

6-3-07 Collins Pond, Homer Lake Forest Preserve, Champaign County, IL

Cricket frogs and bullfrogs. That's all I heard tonight at Homer Lake and Collins Pond. The recording is from Collins Pond. Very near me was a bullfrog under some overhanging bushes on the edge of the pond. The recording opens with him doing a series of three "croaks." Following this was a small splash from that direction. He gives another two croaks. A bullfrog from across the pond answers, then there is a series of splashes. This series is the nearby bullfrog, for some reason, being startled and hopping in a short series of hops across the surface of the pond several feet before going under water. Cricket frogs and some noisy birds form the background for this.

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.

4-28-07 Pond Near Kingston Mines outside Peoria, IL

Visiting my brother this weekend near Peoria so didn't get to my usual rounds of frog call surveying for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District, but he lives on a lake with ponds and wooded areas nearby. Just in the course of Saturday evening I heard a couple of cricket frogs, a couple of bull frogs, a plains leopard frog, American toads, western chorus frogs and gray tree frogs. The recording is of a gray tree frog and several American toads in the pond across the lane from my brother's house.

4-22-07 Sunset Lake, River Bend Forest Preserve, Champaign County, IL

On my survey of River Bend Forest Preserve tonight, I heard my first cricket frogs of the season. Here they are against a backdrop of American toads at Sunset Lake. I also heard a lone Western chorus frog in a woodland pool. I did not survey all of my normal sites at River Bend due to the high wind and less than ideal survey conditions.

4-15-07 Woodland Pool, Homer Lake Forest Preserve, Champaign County, IL

A chorus of Spring Peepers in a woodland pool at Homer Lake Forest Preserve, Champaign County, IL. During my survey tonight I also heard Western Chorus frogs in meadow pools near Collins Pond in a separate unit of the preserve.

4-8-07 too cold for frogs this weekend...

Didn't get out as the temperatures were unseasonably low and I don't expect there'd be much in the way of vocalizing amphibians this weekend.

3-30-07 Shadow Lake, River Bend Forest Preserve

American Toads across an arm of Shadow Lake, River Bend Forest Preserve, Champaign County, Illinois. Their chorus is punctuated about half-way through with the warning slap of a beaver tail. During the three hours I was out surveying tonight I also heard Western Chorus Frogs and one Plains Leopard Frog.