Help conservation efforts by becoming a frog monitor

Become a Citizen Scientist and be a frog monitor.

Monitoring is easy. Visit a specific wetland at least three times in the evenings between March and June to identify frogs by their calls. Recordings of the various calls will be provided. Experts will provide the training, which includes visually identifying amphibians, listening techniques, and other pertinent information.

In conjunction with the Chicago Academy of Sciences and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the St. Charles Park District is sponsoring a training program on gathering information on the abundance and distribution of frogs and toads throughout the region. The recorded data is utilized by land managers throughout the region.

For more information, call Jamie Forberg at (773) 755‐5164 or jforberg@naturemuseum.org. For more information go to frogsurvey.org.

The St. Charles Park District will host a workshop for Kane and Kendall county residents from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 18, at Hickory Knolls Discovery Center in James O. Breen Community Park, 3795 Campton Hills Road in St. Charles. Volunteers are needed. The training is for beginners and experienced monitors. They will teach and review the calls of the 13 local frog and toad species, help monitors find survey sites, and discuss the monitoring protocol.

Experienced monitors are encouraged to attend, in order to learn any protocol changes, obtain data sheets, review frog calls, and share lessons learned from last year. Volunteers only need to attend one workshop.

For information on registration for the Feb. 18 session, contact Pam Otto at potto@-charlesparks.org or (630) 513-4346.

In the 1960s, the cricket frog was the most common amphibian in Illinois. Today, it has nearly disappeared from the northern third of Illinois, for unexplained reasons. By monitoring amphibian populations in the Chicago region, they will be able to detect population changes before it is too late as well as assess the effects of management regimes on amphibians.

In 2000, Chicago Wilderness initiated a calling frog survey as part of its amphibian biodiversity recovery plan. In 2014, the Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum became home to the Calling Frog Survey. Educated volunteers collect and submit data each spring.

Some species, especially the American toad, western chorus frog and northern leopard frog, occasionally chorus well after their normal breeding seasons are completed. This is most likely to happen during the cold weather of fall, or when cold summer weather systems stimulate early spring breeders.

The length of the breeding season varies from year to year and from species to species. The wood frog, for example, is an explosive early spring breeder. Wood frogs may begin chorusing at any time after the spring thaw, but all breeding activity is completed in two weeks or less (often just one to three days). Other species such as the western chorus frog, American toad, and northern leopard frog may chorus during all three breeding periods.

It is very important to be aware of weather conditions and be somewhat flexible when planning which nights to be in the field, especially during the early spring period. Volunteers may wish to sign up for the frog monitoring Facebook group: The Calling Frog Survey, so that they can learn from other volunteers about the best nights to conduct surveys. Ideal weather conditions for most frogs and toads can best be described as seasonably warm, moist (light rain or foggy), with no more than light winds