Oh, How WONDERFUL! I am so happy, happy, happy to hear this news! Spring WILL happen! I drove down to the wet areas near our house last night but, heard nothing. Soon, they will wake up here on our part of the Cape, and all will be right with the world!

Thanks for letting us know. Enjoy!

sooey

All right! And right on schedule!
First spring peeper reports in New England

Other areas in New England: please report when you hear them and I'll add the dates to the database. Also, terrene mentioned she has her own records for her old house. If she's willing, I'll add those too.

Thanks,
Claire (who is probably 2 weeks behind the shoreline of CT)

Oh, and if anyone hears wood frogs (quacking noises with no ducks around), that's a good sign of spring too! I walked by a likely wet area today hoping to hear anything froggish, but only heard birds (lots of birds).

Claire

We usually hear the wood frogs a day or two before the peepers, often when there is still a bit of ice on the wet spot where they congregate. However, we still probably have about a month to go.

It is so exciting to learn spring peepers are around. They are not singing here yet though. I'll let you know when they do.

I should think there is currently more wet areas for wood frogs to call with all the rain we have had recently.

click on Spring Peeper RealAudio sound sample

Wood Frog song

Claire

I dialed right into this forum tonight knowing this would be here - I heard them ever so faintly driving over Creek Rd. in Marion tonight. I know they may be pretty quiet over the next couple of days, when the temps are supposed to dip again, but spring is definitely coming!

Hmmm Claire - do you really want me to dig up calendars from 6+ years ago and check to see when the peepers started peeping? I've got garden journals from late 80's to mid-90's too, where I would have noted that...somewhere around here.

I lived abutting wetlands for 15 years. LOVED the wetlands and want to be near them again. I miss those peepers and all the wildlife the water attracts. I had a beaver lodge right in my backyard!

I'm keeping my ears peeled, but alas, it's snowing here in Franklin again!

By the way, the deer ticks are already out, though that's one sign of spring I could have done without.

drippy: report added to FAQ. They're in MA already!

terrene: your call - only if it's not a burden.

The snow is almost over now. Early this morning I brushed by a wind chime hanging out of the way, and realized how much I miss breezes and the chimes! I want to open my windows!

Claire

I took a walk through the 'hood today, and I heard wood frogs quacking in a sheltered wetland area! Nothing in the open pond, and no peepers yet, but wood frogs are a very welcome sound of spring.

Claire (in South Plymouth, MA)

Temps in the mid-50's today. and heard peepers tonight! Right across the road! A day after the wood frogs sang, as NHbabs said.

Not a full, hearty chorus, but there were a few strong soloists and some muted backup.

Claire

Frozen pond in southern, coastal Maine, I'm afraid. It will be a few (3?) weeks, at least.

I heard frogs - I'm assuming they were peepers - last Thursday evening! To my surprise they weren't singing in our backyard, which is a bit swampy, but across the street in an area that has higher elevation - and, I assume, more sunlight. The weather turned cold after that so no peeps since then.

Thanks stoloniferous, I added your report to the Spring Peeper report FAQ. I've been afraid to go listen here for fear the little guys have stopped peeping (it's been cold since I heard them).

Nice to see your voice, chelone (inspirational contributor to the What on earth are spring peeper anyway? FAQ)

Claire

My husband has heard them in the vicinity, but they are FINALLY peeping in our wetlands! Yea!
Deb (in Trumbull)

Deb: I put you down as April 1 - should it be March 31 (last night)? It's easy to change.

Claire

April 1 - no joke!

:-)

I heard them for the first time last night as I was driving home, just down the street. Funny, the first thing I thought of was Sooey, lol!

Then I thought, thank goodness, spring is finally on it's way!

:)
Dee

I heard them last night also! They're not close by at this house, so a few peepers may have started earlier, but I heard a full chorus coming from somewhere in the neighborhood. :)

Thanks Claire! Last night the peppers were finally siiiiinging in my own backyard!

Now they're awake in zone 5 (terrene's neighborhood)! The wave moves north....

Claire

yup, i practically live in "swampland" - although around here - they like tho refer to them as the "pond" or wetland areas..........

I had to stop the car for my 5 year old to hear them - she was amazed at how loud they were - and yes - it was April 1

madsud_2008: Where did you hear the peepers? If you tell me the zone and state I'll add you to the FAQ. Town or region is even better, but not necessary.

Thanks,
Claire

Hmph! As far as I'm concerned, it's not spring for sure in New England until Sooey hears the peepers. :)

YES!!! It is SPRING! I heard PEEPERS on Cape Cod for the first time this past Wednesday night...April 2nd. I was driving home from my Knitting class and I could hear them in the wet, vernal ponds along 6A at the Orleans/Brewster line. I was in HEAVEN! Their song was extra sweet to my transplanted ears. *sigh* At long last...it is Spring...

sooey

Ladies and Gentlemen (and Peepers), it is now SPRING!!!

:) :) :)

Yes...Let the flowers BLOOM!

Thanks, Cady.

sooey

Ice has been out of the little pond for a week now. But the ocean is 39 degrees and it's been COLD here. Haven't heard the little sweeties yet, but my co-worker in Seabrook, NH heard them April 1st. or 2nd., though she hasn't heard them since.

It's hard to be patient.

Hi chelone,

Yes, hard to be patient, indeed. But, as I discovered last week, Peepers are worth the wait. I hope you hear them very soon.

sooey

I heard one or two last night. They are just beginning here.

I heard this story yesterday and was enchanted. It made the waiting for the Peepers a bit easier (not much, though!).

I have found several of these salamanders on our property over the past few years. I've yet to find any of the little "red" ones I knew from youth in MA.. Fascinating to me how geographic location dictates the diversity!

Here is a link that might be useful: Not exactly about

I love salamanders! I have them, believe it or not, in my basement.

Our basement flooded when we first moved in, and there used to be one or two black-with-spots salamanders swimming around. Then we got it waterproofed.

I was pleasantly surprised afterwards to *still* see salamanders. After heavy rains, while the sump pump is in high gear, they come up in through the half-inch gap between the wall and the floor, where the drain is.

Whenever it rains heavily, I go down to check and see if they are visiting. They are the slowest-moving things I've ever seen. Stay in the same spot for hours. Sometimes I wonder if they are alive, lol!

:)
Dee

Peepers full force last night!

They've been around for a while but they were VERY loud out there last night! I'm just north of Boston.

I heard them last night for the first time. They were off in the distance, but I heard them. I think a few warm days and they will really turn up the volume and appear in the woods around my home.

Digger., I love that you have salamanders in your house and that you go down to check for them. That's a riot. And they DO move slowly, rivalling sloths, I think. I found 2 really little ones (about 2 1/2") last year, one in the wet grass near the pond and one under a creeping juniper in a different garden. I haven't seen one of the big daddies for a couple of years now.

Finally, the peepers are peeping in our cold river valley of central MA!

I heard them a week ago on the OTHER side of the valley (the nice warm, south facing side, that we envy all through the winter)...

I've been entering these reports on the FAQ regularly and the list is getting respectable. (I put in both sides of the river valley, ellen_s). No zone 4 yet.

Keep them coming!

Thanks,
Claire

I was away this past weekend. But, I did hear peepers last week in my area, Metrowest Boston. I can't remember exactly what day.

I heard peepers last night here in Rindge, NH!

Im a transplant from california and for the last few years I read the peepers watch posts and thought you all must have been sort of crazy. Well, I spent last night at Ivory Creek b and b in Hadley, MA and our bedroom was over the creek. With the windows open, we could hear the creek water running and the cacophony of peepers all night long. It was truly amazing. I now understand....spring is here!
Smith college has a small botanical garden with some nice trees (magnolias in bloom) and lots of bulbs in flower. If you are in the area, stop by.

Greg

The peepers started peeping yesterday,4/18, in the upper connecticut river valley of NH

Zone 4 is peeping! It's good to know that spring is not just a southern New England phenomenon.

Greg: Welcome to the craziness - it's harmless and we get a lot of pleasure from it.

Claire