Ep 199. Wood Frogs Sing For Spring

Mary Stone shares the delight of Wood Frogs arriving in her pond and singing their mating calls. Previously, Bullfrogs and Spring Peepers were the only frog residences. Mary highlights the role of frogs and toads in pest control and as indicators of environmental health. She recalls her Frog Watch USA training, a simple way listeners can help count species in their neck of the woods to help save our wetlands. 

She wraps ups with a personal story about interning her friend Gene Martin's ashes in West Virginia, reflecting on the beauty of the journey and the joy and significance of being present in nature.

Thank you for tuning in. 

Related Episodes, Posts, and Helpful Links:

Wood Frogs Sing for Spring - Blog Post with stunning photos by Blaine Rothauser

Ep 131. Ponds vs. Lakes and Vernal Pools

Ep 30. Attracting Toads, Frog Watch USA
Attracting Toads to Your Garden - Blog Post

NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife PDF about Wood Frogs
and Online Field Guide for Reptiles and Amphibians

Previous Story about my friend Gene Martin

Ep 120. Blessing Moth & Bottle Trees
A Magical Blessing Moth – Blog Post

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I'd love to hear your garden and nature stories and your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com.

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Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page

Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,
Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
                                        AskMaryStone.com

More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page

Transcript

Ep 199. Wood Frogs Sing for Spring
Sat, Mar 22, 2025 8:05PM • 12:58
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Wood frogs, vernal pools, Frog Watch USA, amphibian decline, habitat loss, environmental change, frog identification, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, frog mating call, wetland protection, frog and toad differences, frog training, frog volunteers, frog conservation, frog sounds.
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone

Mary Stone  00:00
Mary, Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to garden dilemmas, delights and discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in, in the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about. 

Mary Stone  00:25
Hello there. It's Mary Stone on my screen porch here in New Jersey, and I didn't plan to be out here with you just yet. I do have a story to share, but I wanted to grab this moment because it's in the afternoon, just before spring is springing. Officially, it's, it's what is today's date? I don't even know it's the third week in March. I believe. Anyway, I want to grab the sound of what I believe are wood frogs, so I'm gonna let it roll.

Mary Stone  01:00
I'm actually standing very near the screen, and I see reflections of movement. So I believe those little guys are in the pond doing their mating call. I'll share a little bit about the species, but I may sneak down there to see if I can get a photograph. And what's interesting is, I don't normally have them here in this little pond outside my screen porch, but I've heard them many times on Cobblewood Road where there's a farm, and so I wonder how they got here. It's amazing how that happens, isn't it, nature knows where to put things, that is for sure, and I'm adoring it. I hope you are too. 

Mary Stone  01:47
Hello again. It's Mary Stone the next day, and I'm back on the screen porch, and indeed, the wood frogs are singing again. I am just so thrilled, and so I've shifted my focus for the day. I want to talk about wood frogs singing for spring. But first, I want to thank those who wrote back after our last chat about Rejuvenating Plants and our Garden of Life. May all our dreams of living in unity and oneness come true. So, on to this week's story that starts like this.

Mary Stone  02:22
 Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. To my delight, new frog friends have landed in my pond. Wood frogs that sing for spring. New Jersey Fish and Wildlife has a page on their website with a link to Frog and Toad calls that helped me identify their mating call. It inspires me to revisit my Frog Watch USA training that occurred on Leap Day way back in 2016 we spoke about in episode 30, Attracting Toads, Frog Watch USA when Tedor Whitman, who is the Executive Director of the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum in Short Hills, New Jersey led the training hosted by Greenwood gardens, also in Short Hills. I loved it when he said, they've been around since before the dinosaurs and few people can get angry at frogs Tedor joked, Frogs and toads may not be as famous as the charismatic mega vertebrates like Panda and the humpback whale. However, there's been a considerable decline in amphibians in the last 20 years due to habitat loss, pollutants, changes in the climate, parasites and disease, which is causing great concern. And frogs and toads are essential for pest control and as a food source for other animals. They are extremely sensitive to environmental change, hence, changes in their population can be early indicators of ecological problems, and so becoming a frog USA helper as a volunteer really is important. 

Mary Stone  03:52
The Frog and Toad field guide that they gave us during the training listed 16 species, about 10 of which live in our neck of the woods here in Northern New Jersey, from what I could tell, although I'm not an expert, and you don't need to be to become a frog watch USA volunteer, all it takes is a few hours of training to learn how to choose a wetland site, listen for just three minutes a minimum of four times a year and record your findings. 

Mary Stone  04:17
So I have the CD that they gave us that helped me memorize the songs, and that is the only CD I have in my truck still, and that is how many years later, nine years later. It's not really all that hard, but I have to say I'm going to have to dust off the cobwebs because, again, I didn't identify this wood frog until I stumbled into the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife page that I mentioned earlier. I've had bull frogs in my pond that the Red Shoulder Hawk is quite fond of having as a feast, which makes me sad, but it's a cycle of life. And of course, the chorus of Northern Spring peepers, which will soon start. I've heard them singing down the road a piece, but unbeknownst to me, my cement pond serves as a vernal pool. I describe it as a cement pond because it's a dam that is actually containing the mountain runoff when there's heavy rain events or melting snow. And the foot bridge, I adore going over it. Then, when I first moved here, I was concerned that there was going to be stagnant water, but it's never been a problem, and there's always some water in it.

Mary Stone  05:20
Wood frogs, the scientific name Rana sylvatica rely on temporary wetlands such as vernal pools for breeding and completing their life cycle. Spotted salamanders and fairy shrimp also rely on vernal pools. Although it's interesting, mine is not temporary, as I said, it's always got water in it. So I came upon this really nice PDF about wood frogs. I have it right here, and I'll put a link in the show notes that gives you identifying features of the wood frog. And there's a photograph in the little flyer. One of the most dramatic features of the wood frog is the dark mask that marks the face. It starts at the nose as a thin, dark line and abruptly widens around the eyes. It looks like eye makeup really quite lovely, and their color ranges from pink to brown. 

Mary Stone  06:14
When wood frogs emerge from hibernation after the first warm, rainy night, they migrate from the woods to a vernal pond to mate. Frogs can smell water, which guides them traveling a few 100 feet to a quarter of a mile, these little wood frogs did to find their way to my pond. Vernal pools are also called Vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, and they're temporary pools of water in the depression that dries up seasonally, typically in the heat of the summer. They are essential harbors of life, and are classified as unique wetlands, customarily devoid of fish, although certain fish have adapted to them in tropical areas and these parts, vernal pools don't shelter fish, so our essential amphibians and insects can readily reproduce out of reach from predatory fish. 

Mary Stone  07:01
It's sad that the wetland laws don't necessarily protect Vernal ponds because they are typically less than an acre in size, and builders often fill them in simply by obtaining a permit. But please don't. According to the Conserved Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, they offer critical habitat for amphibians, reptiles, vertebrates, migratory waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds. They explain all 18 of New Jersey's frog species use vernal pools to breed, and two endangered salamander species breed exclusively in vernal pools, including the Eastern tiger salamander. So, there you go. 

Mary Stone  07:39
There's no mistaking the first sign of spring, hearing the delightful sounds of spring peepers calling for a mate and wood frogs doing the same thing. To protect our Vernal ponds, do not use chemicals or fertilizer near them, maintain the canopy of trees above them, and keep the fallen debris intact as they harbor eggs. And not all vernal pools dry out yearly, though they often do periodically. Mine doesn't, though, hmm, there is comfort in knowing Mother Nature knows what she is doing, that is for sure. 

Mary Stone  08:14
So, back to Frog Watch USA, while volunteering is not a considerable time commitment, the valuable data will help save our wetlands, which are critical for erosion and flood control, and natural water filtration, not to mention the threatened species that rely on the wetlands, such as are essential and adorable, frogs and toads. Did you know the difference between frogs and toads? Frogs have teeth, and toads don't. Frogs live in or near water, and toads live on land. Frogs have smooth, slimy skin. Toads have warty, dry skin. To learn more about volunteering, visit frogwatch.org. It's simple and fun, and you can make a difference. Garden dilemmas. AskMaryStone.com.

Mary Stone  09:02
So, I enjoyed learning about wood frogs and revisiting my frog training, my frog wash USA training, but as I mentioned at the start of this episode, I had another topic in mind, and it kind of is something I do want to talk about. I was on a long road trip to West Virginia. Elkins, West Virginia, to intern the ashes of my dear friend Gene Martin. And it was a closure of a phase of my life, many years of my life. Both he and Elsa became family when I was in my mid-20s. And so Elsa passed away five years earlier, and Gene A few years ago. I mentioned when we spoke about the blessing moth in episode 120. It's been quite a journey trying to get his affairs in order, and that was a bumpy ride for many reasons. I won't need to go into with you today, but just want to say, though, get your affairs in order, because none of us know when we're called home, and it can make a big mess for those of us left behind trying to do the right thing. But the right thing was to bring his ashes back to Elkins, West Virginia, where he is from. He had told me he wanted to be buried in a military cemetery, which contradicted what he told his dear friend Greg. Greg and Tina drove from Texas here with his remains, and because when Greg spoke with him just a day or so before he passed, he had told him that he wanted to be buried next to his mom, who served in World War Two. So there you go. It was like being brought home and in the military cemetery at the same time. It was a special day. I was just amazed at the beauty of the countryside as I drove from New Jersey to Pennsylvania into Maryland. I'd never been in the western part of the state, which is very mountainous, there were gigantic windmills on the top of the ridge, which kind of looked like dinosaurs blowing in the wind, and it was a little disturbing to me, but they were beautiful. It just seems odd to see them not being part of the countryside naturally. And as I maneuvered my way in, there was some snow that was flying and sticking to the trees. It was just so glorious. And to see Elkins West Virginia, where he is from, and he had told me so many stories about it was just special. It was just very special. 

Mary Stone  11:27
So, I'm just sharing all this because I didn't take photographs. So I'm going to have the memories of this trip in my mind and maybe someday go back. Sometimes, you have to stop taking photos and just be in the presence of where you are at the moment, like listening to the sounds of the wood frogs singing amongst nature, visualizing the beauty, the serenity, the comfort, the unity of nature, the oneness of nature that we are part of. So anyway, thanks for letting me share that bit of side note and thank you for allowing me to visit with you and share my frog story. I love hearing your stories. So, if you have some special frogs or amphibians in your neck of the woods, I would love to hear about them. You can email me at ask marystone@gmail.com and enjoy spring unfolding because it is indeed a new beginning. Every day is a new beginning. See you next time on the screen porch.

Mary Stone  12:28
You can follow garden dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag. Mary Elaine Stone. Garden dilemmas delights and discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch, and always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.