Lake Creek Balmy February Amphibian Watch [Saturday] [11 Feb 2017]

I have been on the go and out of town since our Night at Lake Creek much earlier this month.

I was happy to have company on this Saturday outing. Thank you Mikael, Sandra, Randy, and Kathy for coming out. It proved to be a very productive and ‘froggy’ night. And ..... Randy is quite the frog catcher!!

Environmental Conditions (at 18:15):
Air Temp: 25.0C
Water Temp: 22.4C
Sky: 0 (clear)
Water Level: Average
Relative Humidity: 62%
The water was clear, just a little rim of algal mats starting to grow. Although the water level was back down to ‘Normal’ there was still a good flow through the bridge pipe at the end of the dam area.

Amphibian Watch Report:
We found three species! February! It was a busy night for both making recordings and looking for individuals to photograph.

The Blanchard's Cricket Frogs called intermittently the entire time we were at the monitoring site. At first there were single or a few multiple individuals calling. Mid-watch (18:40 – 45) calling was at C2 level and for longer periods. At the end of the monitoring period, several groups were calling full chorus, C3, and for over a minute at a time. Sound recording: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5193996

We heard Rio Grande Leopard Frogs calling occasionally, starting at mid-watch. I recorded overlapping calls of several strong individuals (C2) during the last fine minute listening period. Even more fun,Randy Spurlock caught a HUGE leopard frog. Picture: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5101203

We visited the limestone wall at the end of the hour. Four different Cliff Chirping Frogs were seen and I took photos of two resting inside the large crevasses between the stones. Pictures: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5101235

All in all, it was a very rewarding night out, especially for so early in the season.

由使用者 weathergaltx 在 2017年02月27日 23:07 所貼文