I don’t usually go out in the evenings, especially after dark, but I did this evening to see if I could get some photos of Spring Peepers. These frogs are commonly heard in woodland vernal pools, their chorus so loud it becomes deafening at closer distances with many dozens calling their high pitched “peep” all at once in the same vernal pool, but in spite of all that, they are by far the most difficult of all local frogs to actually see because of their tiny size (at only 2 cm they are the smallest) and habit of calling at night. The only way to actually see a Spring Peeper is to go out after dark with a flashlight and get right in the vernal pools with them, wait for some individuals to start calling nearby and try to follow the sound. It is near impossible to find them when they are not calling which leaves only a handful of evenings during their breeding season in the spring to have a decent chance at finding one.

It took almost an hour before I found my first frog this evening. I had tried one location for over half an hour without any luck finding just one of the dozens and dozens of frogs that were calling within a few feet of me. I then moved to another location and it seemed less likely that I would find a frog there because there were fewer frogs calling and those that were calling were at the far end of the vernal pool where there was lots of thick vegetation to offer cover and frustrate me trying to find one of the frogs. I searched around for some time for the singles that were calling closer to my end of the vernal pool without any luck. I then stepped back to consider my next steps and started to think of packing up for the night when I heard a single frog calling from a fallen tree in the water right next to me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bother because I was getting tired and figured there was no way I could get close to that frog without getting all tangled up in the twigs of the tree and scaring the frog in the process. I got down to investigate a little closer and it sounded like the frog was very close, near the edge of the fallen tree and the closest I had been to one so far this evening, so I started searching around with my flashlight and soon picked out the movement of the tiny frog’s vocal sac as it was calling from among the tangles of twigs ahead of me. It was the first frog I had seen.

Now that I had found a frog I still needed to get closer for a photo and that meant crawling into the fallen tree. This is where I had failed last year. I had found a few frogs but ended up scaring them into the water when I tried to maneuver among the surrounding vegetation into a position where I could get a photo. I pushed my way into the fallen tree with my flashlight locked on the frog and this guy was so intent on calling he stayed put as I zeroed in on him with my camera. To get a clear view I ended up in a very awkward position that stretched my muscles in ways that they didn’t want to be stretched, so I tried to get into a more comfortable position after I took enough photos to feel confident that I had at least one good photo among them. In the process I ended up slipping and falling into the vernal pool. I figured since I was then wet and muddy I might just as well really get in there with the frogs and that’s when I got a couple of photos with this one being my favorite. I failed last year getting any photos but I did see and hear a number of American Woodcocks which are also only really active in the evening. This year I got my photos but didn't see or hear any American Woodcocks.