Third and Final Frog Survey

Last night a sibling, a niece and I went on the third and final frog survey in Kannebec County. There we were, standing on a country road in the dark, listening for frogs. The temperature between 9:30 and 11 p.m. varied between 82 and 84 degrees. It was HOT! In some spots the breeze kept the mosquitoes away but not all. The mosquitoes were relentless. For the first minute after we got out of the car it wasn't so bad. After a minute, all neighboring mosquitoes honed in our scent and used a blitzkrieg attack. We had to listen for frogs at each of the ten spots for five minutes. Five minutes under mosquito attack can feel like a half hour. The biting is bad but their constant brushing against you and whining in your ears can drive a person buggy. These state birds were so hungry they would bite us through blue jean material. We used repellent and it helped some. When the five minutes were up, three people and 78 mosquitoes would jump into the car and drive to the next spot. The mosquitoes were so thick in the car I could hardly see to drive. Did I mention the mosquitoes were bad? Well, they were. On the last survey on May 15. we were positively deafened by the croaking of the frogs. We heard frogs at every stop and sometimes 5 species at the same stop. On this survey we heard frogs at only 4 of the 10 stops and only one species at a time. We heard gray tree frogs and mink frogs. I had not heard mink frogs before (see photo). They make a sharp rapping sound like the sound of horses hooves on cobblestone. Why were the frogs so quiet? Is mating season over for most of them? Was it too hot to think of love? Was the noise of fireworks scaring them? Maybe they were quiet so the mosquitoes would leave them alone. By the tenth stop I was more than ready to be done. The mosquitoes, the heat, and my itchy face rash had put me over the top. Driving out of there we saw something ahead on the dark country road. Was it a deer? A coyote? It was gray in color and large in size. As the driver I was trying to predict it's direction as it took off and as I slammed on the brakes. Would it go right or left? To my surprise, and the surprise on my passengers, it went up, straight up into the sky and disappeared into the blackness. We saw the huge wingspan and the large dangling legs of an owl. We saw the back of it's rounded head so I would guess a great gray owl. How ironic to see an owl on our frog survey. We saw and heard no owls on our owl survey. Despite the discomfort and the mosquitoes, I think we'll sign up again to do it next year.