Thursday, April 19, 2012

Night at the Orchestra

Over the past week or so, I've been helping the CMU biology department with frog call surveys in various coastal marshes along the lower peninsula's shorelines. Last night, we surveyed some large coastal marshes along the Lake Michigan coast in Ottawa County. Our first calling point yielded a massive chorus of spring peepers, and a few green frogs and gray treefrogs as well. For those of you haven't been up close to a full chorus of several hundred spring peepers, the sound can be absolutely ear piercing. It's amazing that a frog only an inch or two in length can produce such a loud, high-pitched call. My ears were ringing for the majority of the drive back to CMU. I've attached a short video of the chorus as well, enjoy!

Spring Peeper - Pseudacris crucifer

1 comment:

  1. It is amazing how loud they are. One night we went walking and saw a peeper calling. My son started to whistle at the same tone as the frog. That frog tried hard to keep pace. It was absolutely amazing to watch. You seem to have the most adventurous life!!

    Cindi

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