Let’s Go Wildlife Watching – Time Well Spent

By Cynthia Hacker

I love frogs! In the Hudson Valley, and in much of the east coast stretching from Georgia to Canada, we have “wood frogs,” whose sounds resemble that of clucking chickens! I have a few places where I love to catch this amazing chorus. In a curious location on the Crag Trail and Bonticou Road intersection of Mohonk Preserve’s Springfarm area, there lies a small body of water called a “vernal pond” that forms each spring. The wood frogs that gather there put on quite a show. The sound is almost deafening! But make too much noise yourself, and they will stop. Give it a few minutes and they will forget you are there and once again begin to sing. I have found many of these vernal pools with singing frogs on other trails in Mohonk Preserve, as well, including the Overcliff Carriage Road, where I encountered clear cold waters with a whole slew of frogs at play. 

To learn more about frogs, their habitats, and the calls they make, visit:

https://animaldiversity.org/collections/frog_calls