New Frog Popping Up In New Places in Jersey

[dragoncjo]

Its a house I just moved to so I haven't spent enough time listening at night or during spring but I'm gonna listen good this spring. I have a series of manmade ornamental type fish ponds that I guess could support them. I have huge amounts of fowlers, spadefoots, grey trees and green frogs. No idea if any of them can/do breed in these ponds though.

 

[manumuskin]

Why look at it's eyes? If it has blue eyes does that mean it's a natural Red?

 

[manumuskin]

Here I have tons of greys calling from the trees in the yard and surroundings,I have spring peepers in a pond in a neighbors yard and from stump holes in surrounding woods and for a short spell every year I have Fowlers screaming from mud puddles under the street light down at the end of the block.This all strats up about the time the Wood Thrush shuts up.My favorite bird song!

 

[NJChileHead]

Dragon, I have read that wood frogs will readily adopt homemade ponds and artificial vernals. There must have been a vernal in the area somewhere for the origin of the population though. Time will tell.

Al, thanks, I almost spit my coffee all over the computer screen.

You look at their eyes because if their eyes are brown to almost black (no yellow), then they are mud salamanders. There are only 2 records of mud sals in New Jersey.

Also, regarding the wood thrush, we have an area here in Mercer County that you would love. Thrushes, towhees, veerys, black and white warblers, ovenbirds, etc. Really nice.

I love the call of loons. My dad and I camped the backcountry of Maine, and hearing them was absolutely surreal.

 

[dragoncjo]

Al, no spadefoots? Spadefoots are so abundant in medford and my yard, its very suprising. Literally every morning in the pool there is about 20 youngs one and usually an adult trying to copulate a fowlers. Again i have no idea where they breed. Its may be the ponds but I've yet to see any larvae except green frog tadpoles. Ground skinks also like the pool but usually die unfortunately.

 

[NJChileHead]

Jeez Chris you're lucky. I've only seen one spadefoot and it was a juvie.

 

[dragoncjo]

Prior to this outside of one gigantic breeding mass (literally several 100) I had only seen maybe a handful. Everyone in Medford has them all over the place. My yard is quite good when it comes to reptiles and amphibians, so far without looking I've seen, black rat, racer, ringneck, worm snake, red belly snake, grey tree, wood frog, peeper, green, bull, spade, fowlers, ground skink, fence lizard, box turtles. Holding out hope for some other rare stuff, but might take a little hike to see them, prob not on my immediate property.

 

[manumuskin]

Spadefoots are hit and miss down her.I had only seen one up to the age of 35 and that crawled out from under a low bench at work in a room that we worked with acid and water and the floor was always wet.Then one year the Tiger location down here in the pit I think you know where it's at.Well one spring we had so much rain maybe five years ago now that the whole pit filled with water till the ponds joined and walking the road back I was in water belly deep.That year there was dozens of them near the gate.Whip and I found a bunch of them.Also in the retainment pond at work along East Ave in Bridgeton I hear them there every spring.I haven't hunted them down there.Folks at work already think I"m strange.I don't drink and I don't talk football so therefor something is wrong with me.I don't need them seeing me wading through water with a flashlight on hoot owl shift to help this along