Just a week after snow storms brought some six inches to the D.C. area, the temperatures rose up to the mid 60s, inviting outdoor adventures and welcoming short sleeve attire. Since one of my dear friends and I have made a weekly ritual out of meeting to walk and talk, we decided to take Mother Nature up on her warm weather invitation and head to Great Falls Park in Northern Virginia for an or so of hiking. After covering over a mile of uphill trails, we stopped to take in the beauty of the falls and then headed onward, climbing along rocks and carefully finding our footing on paths new to us.
Eventually we came to a wetland, that seemed to have no connection to the Potomac River several feet away and below. There, we listened to chirping frogs, a sound experience entirely new to me. To be honest, as we approached the waters, my friend and I thought we were listening to ducks or geese, until we realized there were no ducks or geese to be seen and only frog, upon, frog, upon frog. I’ve included a short video recording that I made of these chirping frogs. Have you ever come across chirping frogs? Do you have any idea why frogs chirp?
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What a truly odd sound that was, thanks for sharing!
milkmama, so you’re familiar with chirping frogs? They are so neat to watch and listen to!
Abbie, yes, you’re right in that the peepers may not have survived the snow. You had snow, again, huh? We’re starting to really have a spring here now, but I think we may be a week or 2 ahead of New England with warm weather.
I thought I heard peepers yesterday, but it turned out to be a combination of birds and my wind chimes. Good thing, since they wouldn’t have made it past today’s snow!
I’ve never heard chirping like that, though.
I love spring frogs. Hearing the spring peepers every years makes me feel that spring is truly here.
Ah, so they were breeding! I wasn’t sure, although that certainly would make sense. Thanks for the link! And I enjoy the photos too, although I need to learn more about taking landscape shots.
Beautiful Photos! Perhaps they were Wood Frogs? http://www.vernalpool.org/inf_wf.htm