Rrrribbitt

Photo Credit: ART HOVEY / Lincoln Journal Star

I'm headed off to the first of a series of FrogWatch trainings tonight. 

Frogs and toads are indicator species on the health of an environment. Perhaps because they live "on the edge" between water and land, and have semi-permeable skin, frogs and toads are very sensitive to pollution and other environmental changes. They're also rapid responders to climate change. 

Worldwide amphibian and frog species are declining in number so FrogWatch sets out to monitor their populations. I'm told that the most effective way to track changes in frog and toad populations is to listen for their calls during mating season in the springtime.

I'll spend this winter coming up to speed on wetland ecology, amphibian behavior, and...that's right...being able to identify frog calls. Next year I'll go out to a local pond twice a week, just after sunset, track and upload a description of what I hear.