04-17-09 Spring Peepers, American Toads and Plains Leopard Frog at Private Wetland, Vermilion County

I was privileged to be invited to a "Frog Party" tonight by a friend of a friend on his private wetland. Well before sunset the American toads and Spring Peepers were raising a huge ruckus and it only intensified after sunset. They were joined by an occasional W. Chorus frog and one or two Plains Leopard Frogs. Maybe an early gray tree frog too, but over the insistence of the hundreds of peepers, it was d ifficult to hear much else. The recording includes one or two Plains Leopard Frogs throughout, but if I hadn't heard them in person while recording, I probably never would have recognized they were there in the recording. The Peepers were deafening and the American Toads were doing their best to keep up.

04-11-09 Very Cold American Toads at Perkins Road Wetland Site

First sign of amphibian life at the Perkins Road Wetland site tonight-- two American toads trying to out trill each other despite 42 degree air temperature (water may have been warmer-- the day was fairly warm before the sun went down). The recording here doesn't have it, but before I got my recorder out, a couple of calls sounded similar to a car trying to start on a freezing day-- just couldn't quite get it going, or kind of dying at the end. Apparently they got warmed up call-wise before I was able to start recording, though these still sound somewhat lethargic to me...

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.

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

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.

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.