On the move

If you are walking through the woods in early spring and hear what sounds like a pond full of ducklings quacking, you have likely stumbled upon male wood frogs calling out for mates. At your approach, the frogs will grow silent, but if you sit quietly nearby, the “quacking” will slowly resume. These first calls are often sounded before the ice has fully melted from breeding ponds.

Spring officially arrived on Monday, March 20, with the spring equinox, although amphibians began heeding the call of warmer times even earlier. Many commenced their journeys, skittering and leaping across wetted regional roadways. Road crossings exact a heavy toll as the season progresses, with vehicles squashing countless spotted salamanders, wood frogs and spring peepers.

River Road in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area will be closed on several warm rainy nights to permit amphibians to trek safely to spring breeding grounds. Such measures help to protect salamanders and frogs as they emerge from hidden wintering sites and forge their perilous paths.

On Tuesday, March 14, following a night of unseasonably warm rains, I came upon a wood frog whose efforts left him stranded on a country road when the day delivered biting winds and plummeting temperatures. Bits of gravel and pine needles clung to the amphibian’s skin. No resistance was offered when I lifted the chilly frog and transported it to the edge of a nearby vernal pond. Minutes later, a truck rolled over the spot where it had been resting.