It is spring. Warm rains drench the landscape, drawing frogs and toads from winter dormancy.
The air comes alive with sounds as males gather and call excitedly. Some choruses are small and pleasant to behold. Ohters are huge and deafening - overwhelming cacophonies of primal, otherworldly sounds.
Frog Concertos documents a journey that travels the swamps and pine woods of the United States in search of amazing natural choruses.
Mingo Concerto (Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri)
It is midnight at the edge of a swampy forest in southern Missouri. We stand before a grassy meadown, flooded by recent rain. The amphibian chorus is dominated by the short trill of Cope's Gray Treefrogs set against the high-pitched metallic notes of a large number of Northern Cricket Frogs. To one side, we hear the extended, nasal waaaaa calls of a group of Fowler's toads. Bullfrogs sound off periodically and we hear the sharp gunk-gunk-bunk of green frogs. Listen (mp3)
Bullfrog Bend (Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky)
Traveling east to Tennessee, we camp next to a slow-moving stream near th einlet to a lake. A whip-poor-will sings in the background. Greens frogs call from the stream edge. A bullfrog sounds off and others contagiously erupt around us. In the background, we hear the metallic gick notes of Northern cricket frogs. Fowler's toads are barely audible at times. Listen (mp3)
Peeper Countersong (Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky)
Farther upstream, we discover two spring peepers alternating their calls (countersinging). We notice that one individual in the duo is dominant. The second responds to the first by calling immediately after the first. In the background are whip-poor-wills, Fowler's toads, and Northern cricket frogs. Listen (mp3)
Pine Barrens Trio (Blackwater State Forest, Florida)
Our journey takes us southward to the panhandle of Florida. In a boggy spot in poine woods, we discover a group of three pine barrens treefrogs, a rare species with a restricted range in the south. Crickets trill all around and we hear their distant calls. Listen (mp3)
Bog Frog Seep (Elgin Air Force Base, Florida)
Not far south, at Eglin Air Force Base, we search out a wet seep of spring water in a pine woods stand. There, next to a trickling brook, we find a chorus of green frogs, Southern cricket frogs, and crickets. But most exciting are the occassional outubrst of Florida bog frogs...currt-currt-currt-currt. The Florida bog frog was discovered in 1986 and its range is restricted to the Florida panhandle. Distant thunder accentuates the soundscape. Listen (mp3)
