Remember Those Black Tail Tips?

Blanchard's Cricket Frog Tadpole with Damaged Tail Tip, July 24, 2021

Today at the wetland I came across this Blanchard's cricket frog tadpole. The post of July 5th mentioned how the black tail tips of the tadpoles of this species, in addition to being a bold fashion statement, are thought to attract the attention of dragonfly naiads to less vulnerable areas of the tadpole's body and thereby increase the tadpole's chances of survival. As you can see by the missing tail tip of the tadpole in the photo above, that scenario may well have played out for this fortunate fellow.

Water levels at the wetland continue to be much better than the low point so far this summer back in the middle of June, and storms are brewing tonight. There may yet be time for this cricket frog tadpole and others to reach maturity and be able to safety leave the wetland before it is dry. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile during most visits to the wetland I still hear cricket frogs, green frogs and the occasional bullfrog calling. Assuming the wetland dries as it has in previous years, the green frogs and bullfrog tadpoles will be, literally, dead in the water (or more accurately, on the dry ground). Cricket frog eggs still being laid... hard to know if they will have a chance, but to me it seems doubtful. So far though we have seen the successful metamorphosis of spring peepers all the way  back in early June. American toad tadpoles also mature very quickly and leave the wetland small enough to sit completely on a dime with room to spare. I did not manage to find any of them leaving this year. The boreal chorus frogs were breeding at the same time as the spring peepers and I suspect they have also successfully metamorphosed by now, though I have not seen them. Another species I have seen as metamorphs though are the gray tree frogs -- photos below, all taken about three weeks ago at the beginning of July.

Gray Treefrog Metamorph at the Homer Lake Wetland, July 2, 2021

Gray Treefrog Metamorph at the Homer Lake Wetland, July 5, 2021

Gray Treefrog Metamorph at the Homer Lake Wetland, July 5, 2021


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