Saturday, May 5, 2007

May 5, 2007: Peepers!

Here in Maine, there’s a special sound that you only hear for a 2-3 week period. It starts in the south and fairly quickly, moves north across the state. It is the harbinger of spring, the indicator of the end of Mud Season and the beginning of Spring Season. It’s the sound of peepers. They are some kind of tree/brush frog and only make this sound in the spring. Here’s a website with lots of biological info on the species AND a project that local students can do to help the Maine Bureau of Land and Water Quality keep up with them:

http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/doceducation/jeepers/peeper.htm

When I flew back from Texas on April 21, MRM and RBF heard them in a marshy area just outside the airport when they came to pick me up. They even drove back around after they got me so that I could hear it for myself. Not too long after that (May 1, to be exact), I heard them in the creek beside the Education Center. Last night, when I was walking home, I recorded their song on my Palm voice recorder. It’s not the greatest quality recording, but it’s MY recording. :-) On the Maine.gov website above, you can hear a better quality recording, but I’m posting mine here for documentation’s sake.




No comments: