People, please post the date you first hear the spring peepers - I keep a record for the FAQ.

Maybe this is a characteristic of the Yankee Gardener, getting excited about frogs singing - or as chelone once said:

ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ..........................................
WHY CARE?

You might say, OK, there are frogs singing madly out there, but why should a gardener care?

As Chelone, a Garden Web member says:

"In case you don't know, "PEEPERS", are the "door bells" of spring in New England.

They are the amphibian equivalent of the chorale in Beethoven's ninth symphony. To those of us who survive a New England winter (willingly or unwillingly) they are the harbingers of SPRING.

ANYTHING RELATING TO "PEEPERS" POSTED IN MARCH/APRIL IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO MANY OF US...

Get it?!" ............................................................................................................................................................

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: First spring peeper report FAQ

Hi Claire,

Yes! I heard them here in Brewster with my own ears tonight, March 23. I left CT yestrday at noon...no Peepers...but I have it on good authority from a friend in Clinton, CT that they are now singing their little hearts out. I think March 23 is good for both locations.

That being said, I am very sure that the snow storm we had on March 16th, last Friday, put the CT Peepers back a full week. I heard one lone little fella last Thursday night, but the 8" of snow and ice we got on Friday sent him back into hiding. If anyone in CT heard them earlier, please let us know.

sooey

Sorry Claire I didn't realise it was so important to you. Peepers as well as Osprey (pairs rebuilding nests) were reported last week as a matter of local record and perhaps earlier. I will make a point of researching the first dates. kt

Eah! If I would know what I'm suppose to hear I might be listening....
Is it any soundtruck anywhere?
Should I use Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as a demo? ^-)))
Is it Spriii-iiii-iiiing already or not?
Please let me know, my pruners are sharpened and ready!!!!

I heard peepers last night (Thursday, March 22nd) down here in Seekonk MA!!

Honestly I never realized that other people got as excited about the peepers as I did.

:)

I hope you have audio and speakers, George!

Here is a link that might be useful: Peepers for George

Cady, OK. Now I know what to listen for.
Thanks, i'll let you know.

OH! how terribly exciting, Sooey.

Even with the snow fading fast it's going to be awhile before they wriggle out their snowsuits around here. :( The ice in our little pond has to be completely out before we hear them in our yard.

I did hear Redwing Blackbirds yesterday, though.

Yeah, we have redwings - but I haven't heard any peepers yet. We have a wetlands area down at the end of the street, and by mid-April, it sounds like something from another planet down there. I'll post as soon as I hear them!

Ahem, George, you said:

"Please let me know, my pruners are sharpened and ready!!!!

Just keep your pruners away from the peepers!

Claire

For any transplants from other areas who don't know what we're talking about:

What on earth are spring peepers anyway?

Claire

Yes, Redwings are another sure sign of Spring. But not one that I was aware of until just about 8 years ago. Now that I know their importance, I listen for them. The joys to be found in nature are boundless.

Spring is here, lets all do the Happy Dance. And, for those of you to the north...hold on...Spring is on it's way!

sooey

Claire,
I am too bone tired to go searching for a link but the following is quoted from the MV Times March 22, 2007. "Photographer Julian Robinson, whoÂs been on osprey watch for a while now, photographed the osprey couple above rebuilding their nest over looking Lobsterville Beach at noon yesterday (March 21).
On Monday (March 19), susan Bellincampi, sanctuary director for Mass Audubon at Felix Neck, reported the first osprey of the season at the sanctuary.
And Alex Goethals filed the first pinkletink report of 2007. Mr Goethals who lives in Lamberts Cove, emailed news of his observation to the MV times at 7:09pm March 14. Mr Goethals report was posted on the mvtimes.com Latest ticker. Next morning, he added modestly," I donÂt expect a medal, I am just amused by the soundÂPicked up a little last night, though not at full roar yet. I can hear them again this morning, so it is well confirmed. I can hear them in the swamp next to the house." kt

Pinkletink? That's a new one for me, but it's apparently a genuine Martha's Vineyard term. I couldn't get a good link to the Martha's Vineyard Times article, but found an interesting one in the Vineyard Gazette.

Thanks, KT.

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinkletinks on Martha's Vineyard

Hi all,
Has anyone heard the wood frogs yet? They sound like quaking ducks. I first heard them years ago on a Early Spring hike at Sleeping Giant State park. The other thing I wonder is are the Skunk cabbages peeking through?
Smitty getting set to sow peas, spinach, and onion sets!

Here is a link that might be useful: Frogs of New England

Cady,
I saved that audio file you posted a link for...and made it the "sound" for when I get new email! The sound of peepers is a little bit of heaven to me, and, since I don't live within earshot of wetlands, this way I get to listen to them daily!
Thanks,
Emily

Wow, Em!...what a great idea...Peepers all year long!

sooey

Ever so faintly...the peeper are here on the southcoast (Marion, MA), too!

Now if they would just tell that weatherman to cooperate with concept of spring...

Marion! Great, then they're almost awake in south Plymouth, the deep South of the south shore. I went out last night to check and imagined one peep - but probably not real. Today is warm, so I'm counting on tonight.

Claire

I haven't heard them here in Wellfleet yet...but Brewster is mighty close..I'll keep my ears open!

I heard peepers today in Woods Hole. I don't know if they just started peeping, or if I just started listening carefully enough.

There may have been some wood frogs quacking later in the day, too, because I stopped on my way to my car to listen - it sounded like a duck convention in the woods, which didn't make sense to me until I read smittyctz6's post.

Got them here in South Plymouth, about 5 miles north of the Canal on the south shore! Not the full chorus that will come soon, but still a respectable band. They're singing in the old abandoned cranberry bog, now a swan pond.

Claire

Smitty:

No wood frogs, in fact I've never heard a wood frog (that I know of). This is the first year I've listened for them, so maybe they'll sing later.

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Frog song

On second thought, I was out walking around the other side of the cranberry bog/swan pond today, much closer to the water. I heard what I thought was a bunch of birds but didn't see any.

I didn't think of wood frogs, but maybe they were there. I'll check it out tomorrow.

Claire

Sad to say.... when I moved from the wetlands of Clinton, CT, to the shoreline area of West Haven, the one thing I truly missed was the sound of the peepers each spring. I can still hear them in my mind. Is there any sound better? No, not even the seagulls, geese, ducks, egrets, etc. of the shoreline can compare to the wonderfully exciting chorus of the peepers. They sound so glad, so joyful that it is finally spring and that they can once again continue their life's work... find a mate, settle down, start a family, etc. And for us humans, their sound signals the end of a long winter, a rebirth, a time to return to our gardens. Oh, how I miss them!

Molie

When I first reported them, I had to roll the car windows down and drive reaaal slow by the marshy area at the end of the street to hear them - that was 2 nights ago. Last night, as I was coming home from work, they were so strong I could hear them with the windows rolled up. Amazing, the change in one day! (Ok, I'm easily amazed...)

YIPPIE-SKIPPIE! Claire, I'm so happy that you have PEEPERS! They made it over the Bridge! Oh Happy Day!

And, molie...YES! Clinton is perfect for Peepers. Our home in Clinton is surrounded by wetlands. In fact, my front step is my measure. All I have to do is open my front door and, if the Peepers are awake, I hear them. But, I fear this will be the last year I will hear them so easily. Our house is on the market and as soon as it sells, we will be on the Cape full time. I love being on the Cape but I will miss the woods and the Peepers of Clinton. Here on the Cape I can't hear them from my house. :( bummer...

Do we know yet how far north they have gotten? Anyone in central MA hear them?

sooey

Smitty ---Yup, got wood frogs too! Not where I expected, at the big cranberry bog/swan pond, but in a swampy, vernal pond type area near a house. I was walking along the narrow dirt road and heard very loud quacking and peepers too - in broad daylight! The nearby house must reverberate at this time of year.

sooey --- Can you write into the sale contract that the new owners must record the Clinton peepers for you? Or set up some kind of long distance intercom, like a baby monitoring system?

Judging from previous years, inland CT or central MA should come next.

Claire

No peepers yet in our wetlands in Spencer (central MA). Of course, we're in a cold valley and we still have snow all over the place....

I'll keep my ears peeled in the next few days!! :-)

Claire, you might be on to something! A baby monitor...hummmm, good idea. I'll bet that would be better than the soup cans and string...

ellen, it's good to hear form someone in the central part of Mass. It's so intersting to mark their progress as they 'wave' their way north. Some years it happens quickly, other years it seems to take forever. I hope you hear them soon. Keep us posted.

sooey

Oh no! The peepers have almost stopped! Maybe because the night temperatures are cooler than on Tuesday when I first heard them. They sound so discouraged.

Claire

We just got home from watching the sun set over Cape Cod Bay. It was magnificent as always. From where we stood on Crosby Beach, it looked like the sun set right in Claire's back yard up in Plymouth. On the way home, as we drove past the wet lands, I heard the Peepers...didn't even have to roll down my windows! They are now in full sing in Brewster. Do you hear them, Claire?

Well, I can't hear them from Brewster across the Bay, but some of the troopers here in Plymouth are singing. Just not very many; but more than last night.

It amuses me that you watch the sun setting over Plymouth - I see the sun rise up from the Cape.

Claire

Still no peepers in central MA, but I did hear a Redwing Blackbird this morning...and those guys are always a sign of spring!!

Yes, I have learned that Redwings are a sure sign of spring.

Another sign of spring, along the coastal areas, is the running of the Herring. I was at the Stony Brook Herring Run on Wednesday of this week and saw several of them in the calmer 'resting pools' of the river. They are on their way.

Ellen, keep us posted on those Peepers.

Hey - just had to report that an Eastern Phoebe was just investigating under our porch eaves for a nesting spot! They are migrants and it's the first I've seen this year!! I really like Phoebes..in summer they sit on a pole next to our Spiraea and dive after the bugs that are buzzing around the flowers...and they are not bothered at all by the human or dog activity. Last year they nested under the eaves of our barn..

Herrings on their way - thanks Sooey!

Unfortunately no peepers here yet; I think my record was March 31, last year. But one evening last week I was outside listening for them and heard what I now know is a wood frog. Thanks, Claire, for the sound link. I had thought that noise was some kind of bird.

FINALLY peepers here in Tumbull CT! I was actually feeling a bit peevish that others had them and we didn't. I heard ONE peep several days ago, but then nothing. Last night they were out in full force. Music to my ears!
Deb

Wow, Deb...you have PEEPERS! I'm sorry they took so long to wake up in Trumbull but our weather HAS been off. Warm/cold/warm/cold... We need some warm weather to stick around a bit longer before it goes cold again. I'm in CT for a few days and I can tell you, they are loud and clear in Clinton.

sooey

With this crazy weather, there are still no peepers in the area west of Boston. Maybe after these few days above freezing they will start. I'm anxiously waiting for spring to fully arrive, not these stops and starts!

Had nearly given up on the peepers, it's been so cold and yucky here. But Sun. night I opened the back door to watch the storm and what did I hear through it all but peepers, peeping their hearts out through the nor'easter!

Oh My goodness, veilchen! The Peepers have made it all the way up to Maine! OK...Southern Maine...but Maine none the less! Those little Sweeties will not be deterred! When it's time to 'sing'...it time to 'SING'! Nor'easter be damned!

I am happy for you!

sooey

No peepers here yet, but the wood frogs (quack, quack) started last Friday, so the peepers should be out and about soon, since they are usually about a week behind the wood frogs. (It's gotten colder over the last several days, though, so it may be a bit longer.)

Peepers are in MetroWest area of Boston, finally!!! They started peeping last night, April 18. I think there are more of them this year. Maybe Spring is finally here. The sun did come out today.

PEEPERS!!!
south central MA, just north of the CT border

YIPPIE-SKIPPIE!!! I'm glad our little friends are making their way north! This strange, cold weather has been a real problem for them. We have had several nights on the Shoreline of CT this past week that I have not heard them at all. Start and stop...it must be frustrating for them. But, progress is being made!

sooey

Zone 6, southern coastal Maine is FINALLY being serenaded by their little voices! I'm just in from a cat calling safari and this is the first time I've heard them this year. Not a riotous chorus, but the first wave is making its presence known.

YAY!

Big "croakers", too. And bats were out tonight, as well. Everyone has "spring fever". :)

Hi chelone,

I am SO HAPPY for you! Peepers, "croakers" AND Bats...It's almost time to take off those shoes and run throught the hay field, bare foot!

Enjoy!

sooey

yipee! Finally the first peepers last night in our cold valley in central MA!!!!

Hi ellen,

I'm happy for you. Wow...that took a very long time...you must be in a very cold valley.

sooey