Third Frog and Toad Survey

On Friday night we went on the third and final frog and toad survey of 2013.  Starting about 9:10 pm and finishing 2 hours later we heard only two species; gray tree frogs and American toads.  We heard the gray tree frogs at every stop and the toads at half of the 10 stops.  The frogs and toads were not very loud tonight.  Or maybe the drizzling rain and the persistent whine of mosquitoes in our ears drowned out some of the croaking. The highlight of our evening was not mosquitoes, rain, frogs nor toads. The fire flies were out of this world.  Standing on a gravel road in the dark looking out over a sedge pond for five minutes at a time, hundreds of fire flies lit up the sky.  Some fire flies blinked on and off while appearing to hover in the same spot.  Other fire flies kept their lights on longer while arching up higher forming a Nike swoosh above our heads.  The fire flies were dazzling.  What was this natural splendor in the mosquito ridden swamps?  A natural rave party?  If a rave is a boisterous party involving amplified music and a light show, the gray tree frogs, American toads and pesky mosquitoes were the amplified music and the fire flies were the light show.  Some fireflies in tropical regions coordinate their light displays.  Here, in the marshes of Kennebec County, the fireflies light displays appear random yet splendid.