tony baylis wrote:
>
> Thankyou for your lengthy and informative response. I
> dont often go out of my way to record frogs, but will
> if they are there. I do recall a number of occasions
> in the UK where I did specificaly go out to record
> frogs. There were so many frogs around the edge of
> the water (many thousands), that it was difficult not
> to step on them. Not a sound issued from their lips
> however, the temperature wasnt right for them. I have
> also been fooled a number of times into thinking that
> a sound was from a bird when it has turned out to be a
> frog/toad and visa versa. Good luck with the CD.
Don't be too sure it was a temperature problem, though most frogs have a
minmum call temperature. The Spring Peepers here will call all the way
down to freezing. In fact I swear what stops them some nights is
freezing to the branches they are on. Seems that way anyway. Normally
they won't start calling unless the temp is above 35 degrees F. But as
the temp falls they will continue. Other frogs here it's got to be above
60 or 70.
Moisture is more often the controlling factor. A lot need rain to get going.
If you could see the many thousands of frogs, I assume you were out in
daylight. Frogcall recording is a nightime activity, they don't call
much during the day. Get out a hour or so after dark and try. There are
also some interesting night birds.
Note there are species of frogs that live at the water margin and are
there all the time in thousands. Some of those will call off and on, but
most only call during their breeding season.
We have one frog here, the Bird Voiced Treefrog, that has a call that
closely resembles a Cardinal. At dusk you have to listen carefully. And
we also have the Little Grass Frog, smallest North American frog, who's
call, which has a frequency of about 7.5 kHz, is generally mistaken for
a cricket's. The easy way to tell is it's discrete calls at irregular
intervals and the crickets tend to be regular or continuous or both. I
can pick out a Little Grass Frog's call driving by at 50mph. But it took
a while to develop the ear.
Walt
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