Rio Grande chirping frogs all over Broussard!

Well, some of you already know that I've found Rio Grande chirping frogs both on my street and on the grounds of the Zoo of Acadiana in Broussard. This past week, I've obtained unlimited access to the large tracts of woods at the end of St. Nazzaire in my neighborhood. Originally securing access for insect sampling purposes, I took a quick walk down to the woods last night, mainly to get a quick count on Carolina tiger beetles, Tetracha (=Megacephala) carolina. I really didn't enter the woods all that far, when I began hearing chirping frogs. Being that I was excited to add another locality for this species, I took GPS coordinates. Before long, I was hearing them from every direction, eventually amounting to a strong code 2, almost upwards to a 3!!!

Come August, my friend Rob Dobbs (who co-discovered the zoo population with me) will be coming back in town from where he now lives in Colorado. We will be beginning bird work on the coast of Cameron Parish, but before work begins, we have plans to obtain high-quality voice recordings of these frogs.

Any future documentation/news will be noted.

-James

Amphibian listserv?

Does anyone know of a worthwhile listserv on amphibs? I tried to locate one for NAMP, and it seems it has been defunct since 2003. Any leads would be appreciated!

-James

Gulf Coast or Coastal Plains?!

It seems I've heard somewhere that there was an English name change for Bufo nebulifer. Is it now Coastal Plains toad, or is it still Gulf Coast toad? And while we're on toads....is there a reliable geographical delineation between B. woodhousei and B. fowlerii in Louisiana now that they've been split? Is it fowlerii W of the Mississippi....roughly, so that all in the Atchafalaya Basin are of this species?

-James

Awaiting Brannon

Between riding the tide of the SAINTS' success and spending lots of time in Coastal Cameron Parish for work, I've been waiting for the perfect night to go out and do my Brannon route. The (newly) Dr. James Reitter will accompany me as usual. Until then, here's a pic of an Acris crepitans that has been hanging out in my "native Louisiana" pond---a $35 black plastic tub I bought at Lowe's in New Iberia. But....a few native aquatic plants have taken root, and the cricket frogs have been using it for two seasons now, so don't laugh. It's the best I can do in the middle of the canefields back here!

Anyway, good froggin' to y'all!

-James

Bayou Sorrel One

Well, Dugan and I did the Bayou Sorrel route last night. It was a good night for frogs and for surveyors as well. The frogs were out doing their thing, all three expected species. There were many code 3s for each one. For the surveyors, the temp didn't get below 68F and that's pretty unusual for Run One and January. We had a good time and this picture was taken last night when I got home. The ditches and bar pits along the Butte La Rose highway were full of calling northern chorus frogs, like this one.

Hope others out there met with success as well. Jim

Get ready for LAMP!

This is from Steve Shively:

Just an early (or maybe just in time) reminder that the sampling window for run #1 for the southern region (most LAMPsters) begins January 1.

The Season Is Upon Us

Photo: Jeff Boundy

It's official! I heard code 2 spring peepers when I got home from work this evening.