NLFR calling

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P Auritus

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Apr 3, 2026, 2:27:49 PMApr 3
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At Mud lake,near the Welland canal, not only are there peepers and chorus frogs calling at high levels in Niagara region, and wood frogs for the last few days, but I just heard my furst leopard frogs calling.

It is a full chorus, not just a lonely male or 2.

23 C, sunny, and very windy.

I suspect of it wasn't so windy we'd hear more NLFRs calling.

Frederick W. Schueler

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Apr 3, 2026, 4:36:20 PMApr 3
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On 4/3/2026 2:27 PM, P Auritus wrote:
> At Mud lake,near the Welland canal, not only are there peepers and
> chorus frogs calling at high levels in Niagara region, and wood frogs
> for the last few days, but I just heard my furst leopard frogs calling.
> It is a full chorus, not just a lonely male or 2. 23 C, sunny, and very windy.

* in Bishops Mills, it's 19.5°C, sunny, Force 2 breeze, and this evening
I'll be going out to listen for frog calling. None of the native spring
forest herbs are up yet, but Narcissus are sprouting all around, as are
the alien Allium hollandicum, and a few Crocus are blooming under the
Weirs House Red Maple.

I haven't seen any signs of frogs moving, but Vance Trudeau just sent a
video of Chorus Frogs calling at Craig Road, so things have started here.

One of the findings of our 20 years of doing-the-streets is that
juvenile Toads only show up in Bishops in very modest numbers every 4-5
years, and I would like to flood the village with juvenile Toads from
our little pond to see how this affects the on-road counts. In 2024 we
caught male & female Toads and put them in the pond, but they
disappeared rather than laying eggs, so if we can get a pair this year,
I will confine then until they have mated and laid eggs.

Toads should be moving early in the breeding season this year, because
the fields have been clear of snow before the ponds or woods, so if
anyone comes across a pair they would like to contribute to this
project, we could have them lay eggs in our pond, and then return them
to their place of origin.

fred.
------------------------------------------------------------
---------Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad ------------
Fragile Inheritance Natural History - https://fragileinheritance.ca/
6 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44.87156° N 75.70095° W
------------------------------------------------------------

P Auritus

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Apr 3, 2026, 4:55:12 PMApr 3
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Speaking of toads...


Saw a few sitting along an abandoned rail line in a bog. We were surrounded by chorusing chorus 🐸. 

Another sighting... we saw the rare Anne Yagi, patrolling the edge of the wetland.

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Frederick W. Schueler

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Apr 3, 2026, 9:39:21 PMApr 3
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On 4/3/2026 4:36 PM, I wrote:

> in Bishops Mills, it's 19.5°C, sunny, Force 2 breeze, and this evening I'll be going out to listen for frog calling. ... I haven't seen any signs of frogs moving, but Vance Trudeau just sent a video of Chorus Frogs calling at Craig Road, so things have started here.

* I'm just back from doing the Buker Road Block (11°C, clear, force 4
breeze), which has 4 Chorus Frog populations of increasing abundance
around it. No Chorus Frogs at any of the stops, but at Harry Millars
(Bolton & Pioneer roads) faint calling by Peepers from some other site
was audible. Also no Birds calling, and no creatures on the roads.

rmb...@istar.ca

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Apr 3, 2026, 10:27:52 PMApr 3
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I went outside for several minutes around 9:30 p.m. to listen, but no
frogs calling yet. I heard one critter rustling through the leaves
nearby, probably the fox that I've seen on the prowl. While out there
I saw a moth flying through the flashlight beam so I put on one of my
moth lights, was just out and photographed my first 2 species of the
year. A third larger moth was dancing around but didn't land on the
window, it took off into the darkness.

And so the "mothing" begins! I still don't have all my photos from
last year processed. That was supposed to be a winter project to wrap
it up but for some reason this winter went by very quickly and a few
things went by the wayside.

We've got a rainfall warning for Saturday/Sunday with some mild temps,
then cold. I'm sure the rain will kick some activity into gear. I
hope it takes the frost out of the ground and hardens up the mud on my
laneway, my truck is parked at the neighbour's because of a big sink
hole halfway out, we're having to drive the car out and then walk to
the truck. It will be nice to be able to drive in and out again. I
want to be able to drive out to the "laneway pond" when the critters
get fired up. If it doesn't happen soon I may miss the swarms of
salamanders again.

Rose-Marie
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Matt Keevil

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Apr 9, 2026, 12:04:15 PMApr 9
to natur...@googlegroups.com, Jeffrey Ethier
We had our first calling here at the pond behind our house on 3 April and I uploaded that observation to iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.ca/observations/347028615 I haven't heard any peepers yet. There was a single wood frog that Amanda heard later in the afternoon on the same day. More Wood Frogs started calling yesterday but we haven't heard Peepers yet. The calling so far is from the open dug pond in our back yard. The willow swamp beside our driveway is usually busier for Wood Frogs and Peepers but that's only recently had the winter ice melt and it has refrozen the last few days so no calling from there as of yesterday

Observations of Amanda Bennet and myself for first Chorus frog calling from our place in past years were: 3 Apr. 2025, 12 Mar 2024,  2 Apr. 2023 I observed calling, 1 Apr 2023 Amanda caught one (we didn't note explicitly first calling for 2023), 31 Mar 2022, 24 March 2021, Amanda caught a chorus frog on 20 Mar 2020 but we didn't note first calling explicitly that year, in 2019 I have an observation from 28 April but that was certainly not the first calling of the year. 

Our Chorus Frog observations uploaded to the iNaturalist project we set up for our property are here https://www.inaturalist.ca/observations?project_id=98250&subview=table&taxon_id=24255&verifiable=any

Matt

Frederick W. Schueler

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Apr 15, 2026, 9:47:48 PM (11 days ago) Apr 15
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On 3 April 2026 9:39 PM, Frederick W. Schueler wrote:

> I'm just back from doing the Buker Road Block (11°C, clear, force 4
> breeze), which has 4 Chorus Frog populations of increasing abundance
> around it. No Chorus Frogs at any of the stops, but at Harry Millars
> (Bolton & Pioneer roads) faint calling by Peepers from some other site
> was audible. Also no Birds calling, and no creatures on the roads.

* just did the Block again (10°C, overcast, calm), and there were no
Chorus Frogs calling at the usual breeding places, but huge choruses of
Peepers, and fewer Wood Frogs. I heard a few Chorus Frog trills at a
place in the outskirts of the village where I don't think I've heard
them before.

I guess last summer's drought must have toasted the populations at the
Horse Pasture Pond, Harry Millars, and the foot of Hares Hill Road -
those latter two were regarded as core populations. I'll have to get out
and go to all the historic Chorus Frog sites in the next week, and see
what generalizations can be made about which populations survived and
which perished.

cvetter

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Apr 16, 2026, 7:31:34 AM (10 days ago) Apr 16
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We don't have chorus frogs starting yet in North Russell, but wood frogs have been going for a few days. 
Candice 



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e.g. g

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Apr 16, 2026, 9:10:34 AM (10 days ago) Apr 16
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2 separated chorus frogs in little pools here Scotch Point last week and several wood frogs.  And heard many chorus frogs at a property I visited w of Jasper hamlet last Monday.  (Struggling w iNaturalist to post)
Elizabeth G

On Apr 16, 2026, at 7:31 AM, 'cvetter' via NatureList <natur...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



Kerry Coleman

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Apr 16, 2026, 9:16:34 AM (10 days ago) Apr 16
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Same here 
Stone Road, Oxford Mills

Naomi Langlois-Anderson

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Apr 17, 2026, 9:24:33 AM (9 days ago) Apr 17
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The office was stuffy this morning, so I opened the window to let in some fresh air.  And lo and behold, there are a couple of Tree Swallows calling!  That's the earliest we've heard them here. We typically see them in late April / early May. There's usually a pair or two that nest somewhere in the vicinity (Office building is located in Finch ON).  There was a Killdeer that was also calling, but I already heard them a week or two ago.  There's a crop field behind my house and one pair that usually nests there. They showed up around the same time as my Phoebe.

Naomi

From: 'cvetter' via NatureList <natur...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: April 16, 2026 7:31 AM
To: natur...@googlegroups.com <natur...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [NatureList] Chorus frogging
 

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Frederick W. Schueler

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Apr 17, 2026, 10:59:17 PM (9 days ago) Apr 17
to natur...@googlegroups.com, Jeffrey Ethier, trud...@uottawa.ca, Chris Craig, Hannah McCurdy-Adams
* just back from the Buker Road Block again (10°C, clear, calm), and
Chorus Frogs aren't extirpated there, though none were heard from the
places where the two "core populations" traditionally called. There were
a few calls from the off-site swamp at Harry Millars, among a big chorus
of Peepers, and what was likely a single CF calling from the "other side
of the road" from the usual chorus at Hares Hill. North of there along
Bolton Road, there was quite a stretch, maybe 500 m, where CF were
calling from along the roadside, and I confirmed the ones calling on the
outskirts of the village along West Ave (Clay Shearer had also heard
these). Toads were also calling in good numbers, and we have a single
Peeper calling from our little 2m backyard pool, but no Anurans were on
the roads.

Tomorrow evening is supposed to be warm & rainy, so I'll be going around
to report on more CF sites.

fred.
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Matt Keevil

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Apr 18, 2026, 1:52:38 PM (8 days ago) Apr 18
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The chorus at our backyard pond is as loud as ever. I have not heard any toads yet, but they no longer breed close to the house so conditions have to be good to hear distant calling from here.


Matt
Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 17, 2026, at 10:59 PM, Frederick W. Schueler <bck...@istar.ca> wrote:
>
> * just back from the Buker Road Block again (10°C, clear, calm), and Chorus Frogs aren't extirpated there, though none were heard from the places where the two "core populations" traditionally called. There were a few calls from the off-site swamp at Harry Millars, among a big chorus of Peepers, and what was likely a single CF calling from the "other side of the road" from the usual chorus at Hares Hill. North of there along Bolton Road, there was quite a stretch, maybe 500 m, where CF were calling from along the roadside, and I confirmed the ones calling on the outskirts of the village along West Ave (Clay Shearer had also heard these). Toads were also calling in good numbers, and we have a single Peeper calling from our little 2m backyard pool, but no Anurans were on the roads.
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Tana McDaniel

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Apr 18, 2026, 2:07:40 PM (8 days ago) Apr 18
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There are large populations of chorus frogs in the Niagara area and they have been calling for several weeks now. Today is the first day we have consistently heard grey tree frogs calling from the trees. Overwintering painted turtle hatchlings are emerging from the ground and adult snapping and painted turtles have been active this week. 

Frederick W. Schueler

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Apr 18, 2026, 2:41:26 PM (8 days ago) Apr 18
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On 4/18/2026 2:07 PM, Tana McDaniel wrote:
> in the Niagara area... Today is the first day we have consistently heard grey tree frogs calling from the trees.

* one Treefrog call from our Fir Tree this afternoon in Bishops Mills
(25°C, light overcast, force 4 breeze).

Kerry Coleman

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Apr 18, 2026, 7:54:35 PM (8 days ago) Apr 18
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I heard my first northern leopard frogs on Thursday April 16th on Kemptville Creek south of Stone Road Oxford Mills.There were 4 individual frogs calling.

Kerry

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