Volunteer for just three minutes a week at any wetlands area in Lake of Bays Township and record any sightings or sounds of frogs or toads you might come across between the end of March and early May. Training will be provided.
We welcome all ages to support the Lake of Bays Association in this environmental project.
Please register at the Dwight Public Library before
March 4th, 2011.
Call 705-635-3319 or email phurley@vianet.ca
Want to know more about Frogwatch? Welcome aboard.
Click here for the
Frogwatch Ontario website!
By participating in this programme you will help to increase our knowledge of frogs and toads in Ontario. Frogs and toads are a part of local biodiversity - the amazing variety of life around us. Conserving biodiversity is essential to the health of the planet and the welfare of humankind. Changes in frog and toad populations may be good indicators of changes in the wetland environments that sustain them. This is because they live "on the edge" between water and land, and are very sensitive to pollution and habitat alterations.
Not all frogs and toads call at the same time; there is a sequence of species that call as ponds thaw and warm. Monitoring the dates of frog calls allows us to:
*Predict when frogs are likely to call
*Watch the yearly south to north progression of frog and toad calls as warm spring temperatures move north
*Monitor climate change over longer periods of time - as climates warm, frogs call earlier and earlier each year and remain active for longer periods of time
This north to south progression of calling dates is called PHENOLOGY, which is the study of the times that natural phenomena occur in relation to climatic conditions.
By listening to frog and toad mating calls, naturalists, schools, and community members can record and submit observations that are important in monitoring the health of Ontario's wetlands.
Jug o' rum... Jug o' rum...
peep... peep... peep...
These are some of the sounds you will hear if you're out near an Ontario wetland this spring.
Starting in late March, participants in the FrogWatch Ontario Programme will be out in full force, listening for frog and toad calls in their local wetlands. FrogWatch Ontario is an amphibian monitoring programme for people of all ages, all across Ontario. FrogWatch Observers will monitor their local wetlands (in backyards, at the cottage, or in rural areas) and listen for the amorous calls of frogs and toads. Male frogs and toads will typically start to call in March in Southern Ontario and into April/May in Northern Ontario. Spring peepers, wood frogs, and chorus frogs are usually the first species to make their presence known in the spring, but larger frogs like the bullfrog may call as late as June/July. Each frog and toad species has its own distinct call, making it easy to recognize each of Ontario's 13 species.
