The Wood Frogs are super active this time of year and looking to reproduce like crazy. If you venture out into the woods where there is standing water odds are you'll hear a chorus of wood frogs croaking like loudly. Yesterday I was out driving the forest roads and decided to stop by this swampy area along the side of the road. The combination of wood frog and spring peeper calls was deafening.
When I first walked up to the edge of the swamp, I could see all these surface disturbances as I approached. Wood frogs had been floating and swimming all over but as I approached they all dove and burrowed into the mud. I decided to just sit there for a while and see if they would come back out. After about 20 to 30 minutes of quietly sitting, they gradually started to come back out and before long they were all over the place. The longer I sat there the more activity I saw. They came within just a few feet of me and I was easily able to get some great shots.
It was a challenge trying to time my photos to capture them with their air sacs inflated as they croaked, but eventually I was able to get a good shot of this behavior as well. I was even able to see one cluster of three frogs that were stuck together as they were trying to mate. As with most wildlife encounters, having patience and the willingness to sit quietly and as motionless as possible proved to be an effective technique for getting a unique glimpse into the animal world.
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