Plants and Wildlife

Plants and Wildlife

Details
Category: Wetland Wildlife
Spring peepers, the diminutive harbingers of spring make their presence known by the males distinctive call. A single peep, about once very second, is no small matter - the quality, speed and volume of the call it is how the male spring peeper attracts the attention of a female. Together, the combined calls of many frogs on a spring evening can be noisy, but not unexpected considering the vocal sac rivals the size of the frog.

No larger than a quarter, with a distinctive "X"on their back, spring peepers are found in water bodies without predatory fish, mostly vernal pools and other wetlands found in deciduous woodlands.

During the Spring, the female can lay up to 1,200 eggs, but singly not in clumps as with many other frogs. After depositing eggs, the frogs they move back into the woods until the cold weather, and overwinter by producing glucose, which acts as a type of antifreeze to protect them during hibernation until the next Spring.

Some photos below.

Spring Peeper with disttincitve





Details
Category: Wetland Plants
A few photos of a thawing out vernal pool in Huntington State Park, Connecticut on a blustery, early April Day. In comparison to last year, it's taking quite a bit longer to thaw out, and plants are just beginning to emerge - weeks later in comparison to last year.

Huntington State Park, Connecticut Vernal Pool

Huntington State Park, Connecticut Vernal Pool

Huntington State Park, Connecticut Vernal Pool

Details
Category: Wetland Wildlife
A new species of Leopard Frog was positively identified this year after it was discovered in 1937 by Carl Kauffeld. Not found in a remote rain forest, it was discovered in a Staten Island marsh! The "new" Leopard Frog is believed to range between North Carolina and Connecticut, overlapping both the habitats of the Northern Leopard Frog and Southern Leopard Frog.

Kauffeld was considered an expert on amphibians and had worked as the Director of the Staten Island Zoo and at the American Museum of Natural History. He passed away in 1974 at age 64.

Kauffeld's discovery was never verified, and it sat largely forgotten until 2008, when a Rutgers University PhD candidate, Jeremy Feinberg furthered the research by leading a diverse team of scientists, who not only compared it's DNA and calls and croaks to other leopard frogs, but also mapped the range of its habitat.

In a nod to Kauffield, the frog was named Rana kauffeldi in his honor. More info here:

">New Frog Discovered Inhabiting I-95 Corridor from Connecticut to North Carolina Leopard Frog

Subcategories

Wetland Plants

A section about Wetland plants and their unique features.

Wetland Wildlife

A section about Wildlife found in wetlands.

Wetlands in the News

28 April 2024