No savage bear with lawless fury roves,
No raging lion through her sacred
groves,
No poison there infects, no scaly snake
Creeps through the grass, no croaking
frog annoys the lake.
~ St. Donatus (840 CE) *
 |
| European Common Frog (photo by John P. Clare made available by Creative Commons License) |
"Wouldn't it be fun to track down the different amphibians in Ireland?" I asked DH the other day. I'm always looking for an excuse to travel (to Ireland) and DH has been making comments about taking an "environmental" vacation. With our participation in our local amphibian watch, I thought Ireland + frogs would be perfect.
So I did a little research. St. Donatus was wrong. There are frogs in Ireland, well, there is a frog in Ireland - the European Common Frog, Rana temporaria. There is also one toad, the Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita), which is endangered. And there is a newt, the Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris).
Hmm. This might be a little harder than I thought.**
I researched the calls and locations. I checked on the mating periods. I checked iNaturalist*** for recent observations.
"You might as well be looking for a leprechaun or a banshee," declared DH.
He might be right.
Still...maybe April or May 2018?
NOTES:
So I did a little research. St. Donatus was wrong. There are frogs in Ireland, well, there is a frog in Ireland - the European Common Frog, Rana temporaria. There is also one toad, the Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita), which is endangered. And there is a newt, the Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris).
 |
| Natterjack Toad (photo from the RSPB. (https://www.rspb.org.uk/) |
Hmm. This might be a little harder than I thought.**
I researched the calls and locations. I checked on the mating periods. I checked iNaturalist*** for recent observations.
"You might as well be looking for a leprechaun or a banshee," declared DH.
He might be right.
Still...maybe April or May 2018?
....
By the grey woods, -by the swamp
Where the toad and the newt encamp-
By the dismal tarns and pools
Where dwell the Ghouls, -
By each spot the most unholy-
In each nook most melancholy-
There the traveller meets aghast
Sheeted Memories of the Past-
....
~Edgar Allan Poe, from Dream-Land
NOTES:
*As quoted in W. Thompson’s, The
Natural History of Ireland (1856)
** Harder to find one, easier to identify once you found one.
*** https://www.inaturalist.org/check_lists/7031-Ireland-Check-List?iconic_taxon=20978
CALLS:
Natterjack Toad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdKxChOGW0s (very like the Gulf Coast Toad call)
European Common Frog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq-5R3ub6hM
[Small apology to There Was a King In Ireland: Five Tales from Oral Tradition by Myles Dillon (1971). It is a wonderful book of stories from Galway. My mind went from frog to royalty frog/prince/king and the post got its title...an homage, if you will.]
** Harder to find one, easier to identify once you found one.
*** https://www.inaturalist.org/check_lists/7031-Ireland-Check-List?iconic_taxon=20978
CALLS:
Natterjack Toad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdKxChOGW0s (very like the Gulf Coast Toad call)
European Common Frog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq-5R3ub6hM
[Small apology to There Was a King In Ireland: Five Tales from Oral Tradition by Myles Dillon (1971). It is a wonderful book of stories from Galway. My mind went from frog to royalty frog/prince/king and the post got its title...an homage, if you will.]
We did see frogs in Ireland - July 2017 at Garryland Reserve, Dromore Wood, and Burren National Park. They were great frogs. http://walkinthepark-padimus.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-not-so-common-irish-frog.html
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