Frog & Toad Survey #1

Another year has passed and we're back on the frog and toad surveys again near Hinckley, MN.  The sky was partly cloudy and the temperature was about 35 degrees.  Snow was present on the sides of the roads.  Lily Lake was still covered in ice.  Smaller wetlands had open water.  Corn fields and ditches had open water.  On our drive out we saw 30+ deer standing in the cornfields.  We were glad they were in the fields and not on the road.  A few sand hill cranes stood with the deer.  I thought it would be too cold to hear any frogs but I was wrong.  At first we heard a few chorus frogs.  These frogs sound like running a fingernail down the teeth of a plastic comb.  With the cold the sound was slower than usual like the finger was pausing between each tooth of the comb.  Not very many frogs were talking.  Usually the frog sounds are overwhelming out there in the wetlands.  Last night was so quiet we could hear the traffic on Hwy. 35 and the sounds of trains passing in the distance.  We heard a couple spring peepers at two spots.  The stars were beautiful as we stood there in the dark and tried our best to listen for frogs.  It's unusual for me to listen so intently.  I wondered if musicians would be better at this than I would.  Or maybe they would be worse because their ears would be damaged by their profession.  Maybe people with blindness would be better at listening to frogs.  We heard barred owls calling at two spots.  I tried talking back both times but I got no response.  Some day.  Someday I want to have an owl talk back to me.  We heard snipe winnowing.  They sound like flying saucers.  Or I should say they sound what I think flying saucers would sound like.  I've never actually witnessed a flying saucer.  I worry about these awkward little snipe flying around in the dark.  I hope they don't run into anything.  I guess they probably land in wetlands instead of trees.  Safer that way.  We were glad the roads were in good condition.  Some parts of the road we take are surrounded on both sides with wet lands just an inch or so below the level of the road.  So when I saw fields and ditches flooded with water I got worried.  No one likes getting stuck in the muck out in the middle of no where.  But we were fine.  A few puddles in the road are nothing to worry about.  We had a good time on our survey.  And now we know.  The frogs have declared.  Spring is really here.