River talk

Toad timing

By SCOTT RANDO

Posted 5/31/23

In my travels during the spring, I usually notice the distinct trilling of American toads from early May until early June.

I hear the calls from lakes and ponds, but also along rivers; it seems …

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River talk

Toad timing

RR photos by Scott Rando

Here is a male American toad trying to attract a female by calling. The call is a trilling sound that could last up to 30 seconds or so. A good description of the call might be a cricket sound that doesn’t pause. If there are many calling toads in a lake or pond, they can be heard a few hundred yards away. To hear the call of one male toad, visit riverreporter.com/stories/toad-timing..

RR photos by Scott Rando

This is one of many toadlets seen in July of last year. A penny is in the frame for scale. The toadlets can sometimes be so numerous, especially near the ponds they emerge from, that it can be hard to avoid stepping on them. American toadlets disperse away from the water, seeking similar habitats as the adults. When it is time for their first breeding season in two to three years, they could trek up to a half-mile to the breeding pond from wherever they are.

RR photos by Scott Rando

Female toads deposit their eggs in gelatinous strands on vegetation in shallow water; there might be anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 eggs in a single strand. ..The eggs hatch in three to 10 days. The resulting tadpoles will take up to two months to develop into toadlets. The eggs are fertilized by the male, which has grasped the female behind her forelegs and is riding on her back.

Posted Wednesday, May 31, 2023 2:49 pm

River talk

Hummingbird migration 2023

By SCOTT RANDO

In my travels during the spring, I usually notice the distinct trilling of American toads from early May until early June.

I hear the calls from lakes and ponds, but also along rivers; it seems that the toads along the latter start calling slightly later than the toads at the former.

This spring, I heard them slightly earlier. On the 14th and 15th of April, I saw toads and heard them calling on a couple of different waterways.

On the road that ran near one pond were some adult toads that did not make it across—victims of passing vehicles. During breeding season, toads travel to moist breeding pools. There was a warm spell that week, with temperatures over 80 degrees Fahrenheit on April 13 and 14. This could have started the American toad’s breeding season a little early in the region this year.

The latter part of April saw temperatures drop, with highs in the 50s. The calls of the male toads seem to diminish somewhat during this time.

Near the end of the first week of May, the days warmed up again; temperatures exceeded 70 degrees Fahrenheit on May 7. The toads on the monitored ponds got very loud again, and there were more toads trying to cross the road next to a pond.

The calling males seemed to start quieting down after mid-May in many areas. We had a cold snap and the temperature dropped below freezing in many areas during the early morning hours of May 18.

A friend asked me if this would harm the toads. American toads are not as hardy as wood frogs, for example, when it comes to cold weather. However, they know how to find shelter if caught in a spring cold snap, and if breeding in lakes or ponds, the water itself protects toads from cold temperatures.

Most of the adult toads are out of the water by now; you may spot them in your yard or garden. They will spend the rest of the summer on dry land, seeking shaded areas in forests or near foundations of buildings, and also in fields if there is leaf litter or something similar to burrow in.

The story of the breeding toads is not over, however. The eggs that were deposited and fertilized in the ponds during May will develop into tiny toadlets by early July and emerge from the water. The toadlets will not return to the water until they are ready to breed, in two to three years.