Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Amphibians Around the Block

Warm night (59 degrees).  Heavy rain.  I saw some frogs hopping on the roads when I drove home tonight, so I decided to don my headlamp, grab an umbrella and my camera and see just who was in my neighborhood.  I walked up my street, down to the next one and back.  Frogs were definitely active tonight!

I am really new at this, so my identifications are guesses.   If you see an error, please let me know in a comment!

Green Frog (I think)

Bullfrog Green Frog
(Thanks to Josh F. for his comment help with ID)

American Toad Gray Tree Frog
(Thanks to Josh F. for help with this ID)
Note the sticky foot pads!

 Green Frog

Green Frog (ridge runs from eye down backside)

Bullfrog (ridge runs from eye around ear)

Wood Frog


American Toad Gray Tree Frog
(ditto to Josh F. for help with ID)
Note the sticky foot pads!

Their eyes glowed like jewels in the light, so it was easy to find them in the dark!  It was neat to meet the neighbors and surprising to find such a variety.  Next time, I'll take a plastic ruler, because you really can't tell the sizes from these photos.  The wood frog and toads tree frogs were the smallest.   The bullfrog in the photo just before the wood frog was the biggest.

5 comments:

  1. Wow, what a variety of amphibians you have there! We just have one kind of frog and one kind of toad here. Make identification nice and easy, though!

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    1. Wow, Nick. I am surprised you only have one of each! I originally thought the numbers we had here in Massachusetts were low....

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  2. Neat photos Dawn! I agree with all but three IDs.

    The two "toads" look like treefrogs to me. I'm leaning toward Gray Treefrog, but they could be Spring Peepers. Notice the toes pads. Also American Toads tend to show large bumps (technically parotoid glands) behind each eye, which the pictured creatures lack.

    The second frog looks to me like a Green Frog. Notice the ridge partly down the back.

    Those are my thoughts, but I'm no expert at amphibian ID either. What do you think?

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    1. Josh, thank you so much for pointing out those toe pads! I should have seen that! These just did not look anything like the one I saw in my garden once. That one was so smooth and the eyes were not above the head. Glad to see them again. For some reason, I prefer tree frogs to toads!

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    2. Glad to contribute, thanks for sharing! Frogs, treefrogs and toads, oh my!

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