A few short months ago I started digging a pond by hand, which quickly morphed into two ponds. By the start of March, this wetland restoration project had already exceeded my expectations by orders of magnitude. I hadn't even finished phase one when I heard what sounded like the calls of hoarse ducks echoing in the bottonland. It seemed to be coming from many directions without a duck in sight. Upon closer inspection it proved to be emanating from the ponds themselves, which could only mean that frogs had arrived.
These first visitors were shy wood frogs who don't like their picture to be taken, but but I had no problem photographing the egg masses they left behind.
Not long after the wood frogs moved on to replenish their fat stores, another sound was broadcast from the ponds: toad song. Their trill sounds to me like the song of midsummer insects, but a quick check of the ponds confirmed that a toad invasion was underway. Seven were seen at one time, with more likely hiding beneath the surface.
The toads quickly took care of business and left strings of eggs behind. There is now a lone frog in residence that has defied our attempts to sneak up on it. Green frog or perhaps bullfrog? We're waiting for its call to aid in identification. I'll keep you posted.
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