Croaking at the Moon

One of my favorite parts of cycling in the springtime is getting to enjoy the various sounds of nature.  Although I love bird songs, and they are becoming more plentiful, they can be heard year round. So my favorite sounds in the spring are the calls of frogs, which are heard mainly now through early summer.
For the past few years Trish and I have been volunteering for the Minnesota Frog & Toad Calling Survey. We've been hearing frogs in the woods behind our house, so I thought that during my ride this past Wednesday afternoon I would see how many different frogs I could hear.

Despite the strong winds that day, I heard frogs at most of the ponds and flooded areas that I passed during my 18 mile ride. The most plentiful was the western chorus frog. I also heard a few spring peepers. I didn't hear any wood frogs, but we are lucky enough to be able to hear them from our back deck.

I didn't hear any frogs at this little lake, but I always like to stop here anyway. I tend to take the same route whenever I go for a ride after work just so I can stop here. It is mere feet off of a very low traffic road and always seems to have lots of ducks, geese, and loons bobbing along the surface during the warmer months. I've also seen beaver, snapping turtles and many other animals which I'm sure I'll be posting pictures of during the upcoming months. I'm really looking forward to warmer weather.