We weren’t planning on it, but when Seth brought me his shoes this morning, I asked Grace to go with us and we went on a walk in the woods. I had baby Sarah in the Ergo. We wore sweatshirts but it was chilly at times because of the wind. We walked up to the field in the woods.
This tree caught our eye. Some of the bark had been pecked off, we think from a woodpecker because of the holes. We just didn’t understand why the bark was gone all the way down to the ground. Would a woodpecker do all that?
The delightful sound of peepers (peepers are tiny tree frogs that sing in the early spring) called us and we knew from past experience where to go. There is an old beaver pond in the woods near the field. Tall grass grows there during the summer but it is dry and dead now. Shallow water stands in a small marshy pond area at the edge of the dry grass and that is where all the action takes place.
The Evidence of Action:
Spring peepers are almost impossible to see and we did not see any of them today. They are very small (about an inch long), and blend in to their surroundings amazingly well (they can change color). However, peepers aren’t the only frogs using this pond…..I don’t know the names of the other ones but they are average sized dark green/brown frogs. The females are a red color. Grace and I were standing around, observing them for about 10 minutes before we noticed The Nursery. All the eggs are being laid by multiple sets of parents in the same location, which we thought was interesting.
The eggs are tiny black unmoving dots surrounded by thick jelly. Here is a picture of Grace lifting a clump of them up, with a male frog watching. The water is cold, but when the sun is shining it warms up slightly.
Here is a very short video clip of sweet Seth. He is cheering because he had JUST thrown a clump of grass into the water………you can hear the constant singing of frogs in the background…..
I didn’t really talk to Seth about what was going on. So I was proud of him at the end of our visit, when I said, “Seth are you ready to go home?” He said, “Yes! Bye, frogs!” I knew when he said that, that he had caught on to what we were doing. Children are so perceptive and soak everything up like little sponges. The sounds, the excitement of Mama, the feel of the wind, and the grass underfoot. He also found and threw little rocks, got hurt by a briar (he says OUCH in such a cute way), discovered his shoe untied (“SHOE! MOM, SHOE!”), and saw a plane way up in the sky.
All tired out, we took the little ones back home. However, the two of us hadn’t seen enough yet, so after some lunch, we put them to bed and then Grace and I went back out alone. We took blankets, paper, pencils, a book, and a journal.
I discovered a frog couple in The Nursery. I took this picture so the boys could see that the female frog is a red color. I tried looking it up in my nature handbook but haven’t discovered what species it is yet. As you can see, when the eggs are first laid they aren’t surrounded by the jelly…it must develop somehow in the water. So interesting!
Grace and I arranged our blankets by the edge of the water. When we first approached, the sounds stopped because the frogs are shy, but we waited and kept very still and after a while the frogs all began their singing again. I took this video (it’s very short) in which you can hear the two different calls; the spring peepers are higher notes, the frogs are a lower sounding croaking. And it NEVER stops unless they get spooked!
Oh, and you can’t see any frogs in the video, they are off in the distance and in the water.
While Grace wrote in her journal, I put my head down on my blanket and listened to the sounds. Before I knew it I was fast asleep there in the woods, to the lullaby of frogs. Grace got restless waiting for me to wake up and wandered around exploring. She told me later that when I was snoring softly some male frogs came to investigate. Ha!
When I woke up, Grace was back by me playing with the grass. I remembered that I had brought chocolates in my pockets for us and so we sat there together and ate them. We were getting tired of all the incredible frog noise so we got up laughing, and walked back home.
Now I’m here tucking the event away, as a favorite memory.
Good to be Home 
What a sweet memory that is!
Great nature journal…complete with frog sounds and discovery. Grace looks so tall and lean. I am so glad you get to explore and enjoy these times with your children.
Beautiful post, Shanda! I’m not sure I would be picking up the eggs in my hands, but what a wonderful experience for Grace and the two little ones.
Sooooooooo Verrrrrrrrrrrry Speccccccccccial! Love your post.
Wow, those peepers are loud when you are so close to them. I love.love.love. hearing the sound of peepers in the spring. I haven’t heard them yet around here. (just said the other day “I’ll know it’s spring when the peepers are peeping”).Thank you for the very neat post!! Oh, and the frog eggs are amazing. I’ll have to go investigating to try to find THOSE.
Love the sound of peepers….
What a dreamy day!! I am praying for such a blessing like you have of such an amazing place to raise children!! Watch for the mail man(or lady)! FINALLY! Gina G.
At least, while you were asleep snoring, the frogs didn’t carry you off and make you queen of their little kingdom!!! LOL
What a busy noisy place you have; quackers, peepers, croakers, children, chickens…makes for alot of love!
What a beautiful little adventure! =)Thanks for sharing it with us.
You have some VERY noisy peepers there! LOL! I remember growing up in the PA hills, and hearing that sound in the Spring. Ah… memories!
Carl and I heard our first peepers of the season last Sunday, and both of us just started grinning. Nothing says “spring” like those constant peeps!What a lovely memory, and how special for Grace to have these moments to share with you, to remember for herself as well.
Nice post – now my girls will want to come catch frogs even more. 😉 The woodpecker may be a pileated one – they make a huge mess, but I have never seen them peck all the way to the ground. They take big chunks out of the tree like a wood chipper. We have seen them in some of our maple trees and they make a big pile of wood chips at the base of the tree. (Could it have been scraped by a deer or even a bear?) I love going out in the spring sunshine and napping on a blanket – I still do it in our yard at least once a year.
I LOVE frogs! I am sure you already know that. I can’t wait to get home just in time to see spring come to life! I am so happy it is finally spring!
I admire you so much.
Wow! How amazing. They are pretty loud. : ) What a great adventure and thanks for letting us in on it!
How beautiful! I love that sound!
A lovely sound indeed! And so many eggs, amazing to see nature unfold. You live in such a beautiful environment! I loved the video clips; little Sethy clapping his wee hands was sooooo cute. Thanks for your wonderful blogs here hun. {{{{{hugs}}}}
I am so reporting this post!!!! Juuuuuuuuuuuuuust kidding! I like how you have the videos because it brought all the words you wrote to life! It is so very wonderful that you have all of this in your backyard!
Oh Shanda, this post, this memory is so …. lovely! Your pictures are incredible and accompany the story well. I can just picture you and grace laying there on the blanket … and those male frogs wanting a kiss from sleeping beauty. Haha. And that is such a sweet picture of you and your two babies. 😉
@Shayna – Thanks so much, sweet Shayna!
Those peepers had VERRY loud and high pitched calls. Im suprised mom got to sleep!The male frogs (there were four) came right up to us. GRACE