The Not So Common Irish Frog

A Leaf moved in a Froggy Sort of Way.

~ MPF

In preparation for this trip I did a little research. Because we work with amphibian monitoring here, I thought I should familiarize myself with the species present in Ireland - specifically those that might be in the areas we planned to visit.

The first thing I discovered was that there are only three amphibian species in Ireland - one frog (European Common Frog), one toad (the endangered Natterjack Toad), and one newt (the Smooth Newt). The toad is in a county we would not be visiting. I have no idea how to search for a newt (it would have to drop in my lap.) So, where did the frogs hang out? I watched YouTube videos. I searched iNaturalist. *

One species of frog...this did not bode well for any observations.

And though we kept our eyes open when walking along rivers and ponds, we saw no frogs. We heard no frogs.

Then, on a dreary rainy day we saw one. We were hiking in Garryland Park and Reserve.** It is woodland - stunningly beautiful. But the rain had overwhelmed the forest canopy and we (wet to the bone in spite of our rain gear) turned back towards the car park.

Suddenly, there it was on the paved path in front of us. [Here is where we admit, sort of, to harassing the wildlife as somehow that frog was frightened into leaving the path and hiding under a log rather than submit to a photo as proof we saw him. Shhh! Don't tell.]

We documented it anyway as we thought it would be our only sighting. We were going home in a few days. What was the likelihood we would see another?

The database uses a goofy frog graphic (stranger than this) to indicate that no photo and no call was submitted. It is a placeholder. It is a graphic of shame.

It continued to rain off and on for the next few days, but we were running out of time in Ireland. While we signed up for an organized nature hike in the Burren National Park*** for our last day in the Gort area, we decided to hike in one additional nature preserve on Saturday morning. What is the point of a holiday if you don't arrive home utterly exhausted?

Dromore Wood**** is an extraordinary place - another post will fill in the details. Let it suffice to say that we found frogs in Dromore Wood...loads of frogs...hundreds of little hoppers. In certain places all you had to do was step off the path and frogs would let loose - big and little frogs - we think there had been a relatively recent hatch (you know the life cycle - egg, tadpole, froglet, frog).

We shared our excitement with Eamon, who was managing the Visitor Center at the reserve, and he let us know we would likely see more frogs in the Burren the next day.

And we did.

So, here are our frog photos. I will try to edit, but it is a bit like taking pictures of your children. You end up with many of the same ones because they are so lovely.***** 

Dromore Wood Nature Reserve

We quickly discovered to look for movement, not color. These frogs come in colors ranging from light brown to dark green. See him?

Let me help. This is one of the tiny frogs - about 1 inch in length.

This was the first we photographed. It's in a bit of an awkward position, but we thought it was the loveliest frog ever because it froze so we could get proof.

See how difficult they can be to spot?

This is one of my favorites. He was pretty well hidden. An adult, he was just over two inches long.

Here is another of the little guys.

We took a few videos, but I haven't a clue how to link them here. Because of the thickness of the vegetation, you mostly see leaves moving "in a froggy sort of way" as DH observed.

Burren National Park

We saw a few frogs in the Burren, but I think these are photos of the same frog who moved into a better pose.

Notice how different the color of these frogs.

One more frog - do you see it?

How about now?

I had teased John McDonnell, the guide for our music tour, that I had a list of things I wanted to do and see in Ireland. Then I showed him my list -  a blank page in my notebook. The page may have been blank, but "see a frog" was written in invisible ink.


NOTES:

*https://www.inaturalist.org/check_lists/7031-Ireland-Check-List

**http://www.coolepark.ie/

***http://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/dromore-wood-nature-reserve-visitor-centre/12201

****http://www.burrennationalpark.ie/

*****I have no idea how many times I have shown people the frog photos on my phone. Too many, I am sure.

SPECIAL THANKS to Eamon at Dromore Wood and Susan at the Burren National Park. You rock!