Frog Walk

     I love the sound of Spring Peepers. Click here to hear the call of the Spring Peeper frog. Turn up your sound. When the kids were young we would regularly go to the Kortright Centre for Conservation in Kleinburg, Ontario, not too far from our home in Newmarket. We would walk the trails and watch for frogs and other wildlife in the area. We always had a great time and we always heard the loud chorus of spring peepers every year. I mean, who doesn't like looking for frogs?
     While looking for things to do in the Fredericton area we picked up the booklet Passport to Nature produced by the The Nature Trust of New Brunswick. Inside we found a variety of different things that we could do in parks, trails and on the water. Last week, the weather was a bit too much for me. I do not do well in hot weather and we had a few very hot days (over 30 degrees Celsius) with high humidity. We planned to go on a frog walk in Hyla Park in the north end of Fredericton. The passport describes the Frog walk: "Join us as we learn about the several amphibian species and wildlife that call Hyla Park home. Frog walks allow the respectful study of amphibians and their habitats, while also allowing for the exploration of the wetlands and other biodiversity found there".

     We drove into the parking lot and met Kira and Betsy, our tour guides. They were wearing all the gear to protect themselves from bugs and wet areas; high rubber boots, long pants and a rain-wear jacket. I felt very hot just looking at them. We were wearing light clothing, along with our rubber boots. We sprayed ourselves with bug spray. I use a natural bug repellent called b-gone by Saje. It works very well and I was not bothered by the bugs. When it was time to start our walk we had a large group of about 15 people including children and one dog. Kira and Betsy, our tour guides, began by showing us the various species we may find during our walk. The passport describes it like this: "The Hyla Park Nature Preserve protects 19 acres of wetland and ponds that vary in size withing the boundaries of the City of Fredericton. It is home to over seven different species of frog, one species of toad, two species of salamander, and one species of newt. The preserve hosts three species of provincially rare plants and is the north-eastern limit of distribution of the grey tree frog".

     It is always a good idea to know what you are looking for. So, here are the species we were searching for: Green Frog, Bullfrog, Spring Peeper, Gray Tree Frog, Leopard Frog, Wood Frog and the American Toad.
   
     We spent an hour walking with frog net in hand through the muddy trails looking in all the marshy areas for frogs. Under the shade of the trees, we felt cooler and we enjoyed sloshing through the large pools of accumulated water. We saw and heard a few frogs but none of us were able to catch any to have a closer inspection. We had a lovely walk through a preserved wetland with our knowledgeable guides.

We tried to catch this female Bull Frog but she got away but I 
did catch her with my camera. Less harmful for her I would assume.

Here is a beaver lodge in a pond which is the main reason for
the flooding through the trails.

Fungi on a tree. I always find them fascinating

Wild flowers

     I would highly recommend any frog (or nature) walk to young and old alike. You can learn so much with a guide but remember nature has its own agenda so you may have to go on several walks before you see something out of the ordinary.

I saw this guy on a hot sunny day in Nova Scotia last year at the Clam Harbour Beach.
He was just sitting there in a stream beside the busy walkway. No one was
paying attention to what was in the water but I saw him.

     Always be aware of your surroundings. You may see something beautiful.