For Janet Bernardino, a walk through her 4-acre yard in Salem township used to be just a walk. Now that walk has a purpose. She listens for the quack of the wood frog or the snoring sound of the northern leopard frog.
Bernardino volunteers with the annual Rouge River Watershed frog and toad survey, which began in 1998. She, along with about 300 volunteers in the watershed, listen for frog mating calls and record which species they hear.
The project is one of the most ambitious of state efforts to track frogs and toads. The state Department of Natural Resources conducts a statewide survey, but it is less intense. The Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department also conducts a citywide survey.
"Part of the enjoyment of living out here is listening to the frogs. I wanted to know more about what I was hearing on my property, said Bernardino.
Now, instead of just hearing the croaking, she is able to pick out what species is making the sound, she said. I was also able to share it with my godchild, Bernardino said. The child and Bernardino listened for frogs at a culvert on Johnson Creek. Johnson Creek flows through Bernardino's property and is the last clean, cold stream into the Rouge watershed, Bernardino said.
The project is designed to survey every quarter-mile section of the watershed, which stretches from Rochester Hills in the north, Salem Township in the west and the downriver area in the southeast. Organizers want to establish a baseline for frog and toad populations in various areas, then use the baseline to compare with future surveys. The amphibians are sensitive to environmental changes, so a decline in the population might indicate a decline in the quality of the ecosystem, said Sally Petrella, a coordinator with Friends of the Rouge.
Last year, the effort attracted about 300 volunteers. This year, Petrella hopes to enlist up to 400.
The first step to becoming a volunteer is attending a training session and picking up a tape recording of frog calls. The volunteers then are assigned an area to observe. Usually it's an area near their home, Petrella said. They are asked to go out at least once a month between mid-March and the end of July and record their observations.
Some people were really skeptical that we would get enough people to cover the whole watershed, Petrella said. But from the start, The response was so overwhelming. People love to volunteer for this. Lots and lots of families do it for a kind of family activity, Petrella said.
Van Buren Township resident Mary Jo Davis is interested in getting children involved with the frog and toad survey. Davis lives in Kirkridge Cooperative on Ecorse Road. There is a wetland right near her apartment where she often hears frogs in the spring. Frogs also come right up into the apartment complex lawns. Children are catching little frogs around here. They're hopping around on the lawns, Davis said. The frog and toad survey is a way to help the children learn more about something they enjoy, Davis said.
Marjorie Kauth-Karjala can be reached by e-mail at mkarjala@annarbornews.com
or at (734) 482-2961.