Spot the new frog Republican American

Spot the new frog Republican American

Michael Puffer, March 31, 2015. "Volunteers needed to spot new frog species".
Republican American, Waterbury, CT. pp. 1 & 7A.

Monthly Volunteer Meeting -- March 2012

Timberdoodle Evening Air Show

We were treated to an airshow at our Monthly Volunteer Meeting.  American Woodcock were performing their springtime ritual in hopes of attracting a mate in the Saw Mill Field.  Nearby we also heard several Northern Leopard Frogs calling in the North Shore Marsh vicinity of Bantam Lake and River.  A real treat for our volunteers, who well deserve it to say the least!

Some Notable Wildlife Seen During White Memorial's Nature Day, 9/24/11

Olive-sided Flycatcher by Tom Munson

from www.fishandgame.idaho.gov

Nashville Warbler photo by

Jacob Spendelow from http://www.tringa.org/

Northern Parula photo by Alan Murphy

from http://www.houstonaudubon.org/
Blackpoll Warbler photo from the

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Northern Leopard Frog photo by Dave Rosgen

Blue-spotted Salamander photo by Ashley Hayes

White Memorial's 30th annual Family Nature Day was held this past Saturday, 9/24/11, under mostly cloudy, warm, and humid conditions. Fortunately for all of us, the forecasted rain showers never materialized and the event was a big success. Approximately 784 people attended and were given a chance to learn about a wide range of environmental subjects. The people who went on the general nature walk that Samantha Foster and I led saw lots of plants, berries, nuts, and mosquitoes, plus several Green Frogs and a few birds. Right after that, Sam and I led a walk around Ongley Field and Pond in search of reptiles and amphibians. We found many Green Frogs and a cooperative N. Leopard Frog in Ongley Field. The north side of the Ongley Pond Trail produced an E. Garter Snake, while the pond yielded about 15 Painted Turtles. We found 4 Blue-spotted Salamanders behind the Sawmill Yard buildings. Next came the hawk watch, which I knew wouldn't produce any migrant hawks because of the weather conditions, which included a breeze from the south. Hawks want winds from the north and sunny conditions for their fall migration. However, Veronica, our semi-tame/semi-wild resident Red-tailed Hawk put on a show for the walk's attendees by swooping down and grabbing an unsuspecting young cottontail rabbit from the side of the driveway leading into the Sawmill Yard. We hadn't seen the bunny until Veronica caught it because we were focused on a nice group of warblers that included a Blackpoll, a Palm, a Nashville, 4 Pines, and 5 Yellow-rumps. After Veronica dispatched the bunny she flew into the row of conifers along the west ridge of the Mill Field to eat it. As I was positioning my spotting scope on her, I saw an Olive-sided Flycatcher in the top of the first Tamarack tree in this row. Being a rare bird, I wanted everybody to see the flycatcher, which they did as it put on a good show of its own, catching numerous dragonflies and other flying insects. Veronica took her time eating the rabbit, so they got to see that action too. Back in the Museum Area, we, along with some of our guests, saw another fair-sized wave of warblers that included a Northern Parula. In all, we saw or at least heard 46 species of birds, as well as numerous other forms of wildlife this day.

Frogs Galore at White Memorial!

Northern Spring Peeper photograped by

Ashley Hayes at White Memorial's Museum Area

Wood Frog photographed by Ashley Hayes

at White Memorial's Mott-Van Winkle Area

Green Frog photographed by Dave Rosgen

at White Memorial's Duck Pond

Bullfrog photographed by Dave Rosgen

at White Memorial's Duck Pond

Northern Leopard Frog photographed by

Dave Rosgen in White Memorial's Ongley Field

Frogs are thriving at White Memorial, thanks in part to the massive amounts of rain that have fallen here this year. In many years frogs and other amphibians that breed in vernal pools face a race against the clock to grow-up, metamorphose into their adult form, and exit the pool before it dries up. Not this year! Ample amounts of rain kept water in vernal pools and other wetlands long enough for these animals to go through this process with time to spare. Even though there wasn't much rainfall in July, our wetlands retained a decent amount of water. Frogs, and especially juvenile ones, have found that the upper reaches of floodwaters are an ideal place to hang out, wait for invertebrate animal food to come close enough to be caught, and escape into the safety of the water if predators come after them. On several occasions since Tropical Storm Irene passed through this area I've gone out to look for amphibians, storm-blown birds, and other creatures. That includes trying to get reasonably accurate counts of frogs. I found that walking the upper reaches of the floodwaters was the ideal place to find these animals, whether it was in woods, fields, or wetlands. Frogs were in all of these places. On Tuesday, 8/30/11, I went around our Lake, Windmill Hill, Ongley Pond, and Mill Field Trails, following the border of the floodwaters. I counted a total of 225 Green Frogs, 16 Northern Leopard Frogs, 10 Wood Frogs, 10 Northern Spring Peepers, 2 Gray Treefrogs, 1 Pickerel Frog, and 1 American Toad. Surprisingly, I didn't see any Bullfrogs. I also saw a 3/4" wide Eastern Garter Snake attempting to swallow a 2" wide Green Frog, a fair-sized Northern Water Snake heading towards a group of Green Frogs, and 10 Painted Turtles foraging in the shallow water. Three Belted Kingfishers at the intersection of Lake and Windmill Hill Trails were undoubtedly looking for easy pickings in the shallow water. They will eat frogs just as readily as they'll eat fish. However, I also saw small fish in the water, so the kingfishers may have been after these, too. On Friday, 9/2/11, I checked the Mill Field and Interpretive Trails and counted 43 Green Frogs, 6 Bullfrogs, 5 Northern Leopard Frogs, and 2 Pickerel Frogs. Some of these were caught by student volunteer Nicole Morin and swabbed for Chytrid fungus as part of another one of our on-going research projects. The following day, student volunteer Marcus Johansson helped me lead a walk for 16 members of the public with the focus being on amphibians and reptiles. We visited Ongley Field and Pond and the Mill Field and Interpretive Trails, checking all of the flooded areas. We counted 150 Green Frogs, 12 Northern Leopard Frogs, 5 Northern Spring Peepers, 3 Wood Frogs, 3 Bullfrogs, 2 Pickerel Frogs, and 1 American Toad. Marcus caught 3 of them for swabbing. This was very educational for the attendees. A quick check of Pine Grove 2 after our latest flooding event today (at least 4" of rain fell yesterday and last night) revealed 75 Green Frogs around pools of water.

Wildlife Management and Inventorying Activities, 4/14/11

Red-tailed Hawk photo by Leo Kulinski, Jr.

from whalesandwolves.com Sharp-shinned Hawk photo by Darlene Knox Eastern Bluebird photo by Bob Stanowski

Bluebird nest box photo by Dave Rosgen

Yesterday, 4/14/11, Volunteers John Eykelhoff, Jim Kandefer, and Bob Stanowski assisted me with bluebird nest box maintenance and monitoring and a wide variety of wildlife surveying. Most of the time this type of field work is a case of multi-tasking. While working on the bluebird boxes we frequently scanned the skies for raptors, looked around the fields and edges for other birds and mammals, and listened for any birds or frogs than might be calling. Since it was a nice, sunny, warm day there was a constant concert of bird and frog sounds to enjoy. This included our first Northern Leopard Frogs of the season at the Litchfield Town Beach and in the Icehouse Marsh. Our first Common Snapping Turtles of the year also appeared today. Gerri Griswold and Lee Cook saw a huge one moving very slowly in the Bantam River and I saw a big one sticking its head out of Bantam Lake's N. Bay. Our third first-of-the-year animal found this day was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher behind the Campground Store. Hawk migration activity was very good, with the best viewing being from the Bantam River Field. While replacing a rotted wooden bluebird box pole with a new metal one and replacing a cracked bluebird box front door we saw 3 Ospreys, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a Broad-winged Hawk fly over. Turkey Vultures and the resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks were also circling around overhead. These, and 3 other pairs of Red-tails seen elsewhere this day, were engaged in courtship activity. Migrant songbirds seen included Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Eastern Bluebirds were seen at 4 nest box locations, and one of the boxes had a complete nest in it already. Tree Swallows were abundant everywhere. They were joined by a Barn Swallow in the Icehouse Field and N. Rough-winged Swallows at Wheeler Hill, the Bantam R. Field, and Cemetery Pond. Bantam Lake produced lots of action. This included at least 5 Ospreys fishing. Three of them were successful while we watched them, but one promptly lost its catch of a Northern Pike when an adult female Bald Eagle chased and scared it. The Pike disappeared when it hit the water, and the eagle failed to retrieve it. In addition to this eagle, an adult male (possibly her mate) was perched in a White Pine on the east shore, a 3rd-year immature female was flying around and then perched in a tree in N. Shore Marsh, and a 2nd-year immature male was perched in a White Pine at the tip of Lennox Hill Pt. He was being mobbed by American Crows for awhile. Bob was able to get really good Digiscoped photos of these eagles, so I will use them to do a future blog about the ways to determine the ages of immature and subadult Bald Eagles. While the eagles posed for photos, an immature Northern Harrier flew past us and disappeared into N. Shore Marsh, 7 Rusty and many Red-winged Blackbirds called from trees in the Marsh, 2 Green-winged Teal and 3 Wood Ducks swam along the shoreline, and 21 Double-crested Cormorants lazed on the stone blocks in N. Bay. Finally, we ended the day with 3 American Woodcock calling and displaying at dusk at Cemetery Pond. If you take a trip out to these locations, especially in the late afternoon and evening, you may very well be rewarded with these same sights and sounds of nature.

Frog and Toad Call Study Guide

We are surveying frogs and toads at White Memorial by call recognition.  This is a study guide for volunteers to become more familiar with the calls of the frogs and toads that we are searching for on the property.  If you are interested in volunteering to help our survey efforts please contact White Memorial for more information (860-567-0857).

How to use this study guide:  

Play each video and observe the animal vocalizing their call.  You can play more one video at the same time to hear each call in close proximity.  This could be useful for vocalizations that have similar qualities such as the American toad and Fowler's toad.  You can also hear in several of these videos the songs of other  species other than the focal species.  Can you identify the calls in the background?  Feel free to make a tape of the calls in the field at your survey points and compare them to the calls on this study guide.  Frogs and toads will have regional dialects to their vocalizations, just like songbirds.  Can you identify any of these variations?  

American toad

Fowler's toad

Bull frog

Northern leopard frog

Pickerel frog

Green frog

Spring peeper

Wood frog

Gray treefrog

2011 White Memorial Foundation Property-Wide Frog Call Survey Workshop

Saturday, March 19, 2011

5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

A. B. Ceder Classroom

Wood frog Photo By Donna Potwin

We are continuing our property wide survey for frogs and toads by identifying their calls.  Laura Saucier, CT DEP, Wildlife Technician, will facilitate our workshop.  We will be discussing the importance of monitoring these species and their natural history.  Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy footwear because there will be activity in the field.  This program will be a rain or shine event.