This is a common scene along many of our trails in early spring. Temporary pools of water like this collect in open scrub areas that were once cleared agricultural land. I took this photo on my way in. On my way out two hours later most of the ice had melted and a small number of Western Chorus Frogs were singing. This was my first amphibian encounter of the year.
 
I took advantage of having rubber boots on and waded into the middle of the flooded area hoping to home in on one of the tiny frogs. Normally the slightest disturbance near the pool causes these frogs to go silent for a few minutes, but by chance I was quickly able to get within a few feet of a singing frog before that happened. I waited and waited, and then waited some more for the frog to start singing again but it didn't. I tried scraping my fingernail on the textured grip of my water bottle cap to see if the frog would respond to that crude imitation of its call. It had no effect. There were so few frogs singing when I first encountered them that I knew finding one then and there would be a losing battle. There will be much better opportunities to look for this species in the coming weeks.