Hearing the Chorus for the First Time

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Taylor Creek Park. Photo by Heather Kelly.

This morning I shared this on my personal social media accounts:

Today’s small joy: hearing the chorus for the first time. They sound like wet wide rubber bands. Toads? (Anyone know?)

Before settling in for a day of work and meetings, I went for a walk in Taylor Creek Park, and I took a moment to go off the path and explore what might be just over a small hill.

It turned out to be a swampy area that was full of music! And loud!

I had never heard them before and I had no idea who was singing. Frogs? Toads?

Al Lerman, a “blues/roots musician who has been playing with sizzle and soul since the 70s” and great guy who I was on the Board of Directors of the Toronto Blues Society with years ago, responded to my post with this awesome message:

“Wood frogs or possibly green frog. You can hear both their calls here: https://www.naturewatch.ca/frogwatch/ontario

What a fantastic resource! There are photos and recordings of all different kinds of toads and frogs.

There are so many great names of Ontario frogs and toads: Spring Peeper, Striped Chorus Frog, Boreal Chorus Frog, frogs with other animals in their names (which kind of cracks me up), like the Leopard Frog, Pickerel Frog, Blanchard’s Cricket Frog, and Mink Frog (wait, don’t mink eat frogs?), and of course the well-known Bullfrog.

Thanks to Al and the Frog Watch website, I was able to easily figure out that it was definitely a choir of Green Frogs I heard singing this morning. Certainly not toads! 

Here’s the photo of a Green Frog that I took in the park after posting this story:

Green Frog
Green Frog. Taylor Creek Park. Photo by Heather Kelly.

Such a cutie! 🐸