Come Join the Frog and Toad Call Survey
Calling all wildlife watchers! The Iowa DNR will be hosting four frog and toad call training workshops in 2022; 2 in person and 2 live online via Zoom. These workshops are for anybody interested in getting involved in Iowa’s Frog and Toad Call Survey which has been collecting data on our state’s amphibians for over 30 years! Prospective surveyors must attend one of the four scheduled workshops.
The Frog and Toad Call Survey has a long tradition, starting in 1991. That was the first year a group of dedicated community scientists learned the frog and toad calls and trooped out into the night to visit wetlands across the state. Over the years, volunteers have collected data on over 2,200 wetlands and provided an incredible record of frog and toad activity.
Program coordinator Stephanie Shepherd explains, “It’s rare to have such a broad set of data collected over so many years on ONE species, much less a whole group of vulnerable species.”
To get involved with the frog and toad call survey you will need an adventurous spirit and the interest to learn up to 16 frog and toad breeding calls. Interested volunteers can see whether there are any survey routes near them by browsing the maps of available routes on the DNR website. If you don’t see an available route that will work, creating your own survey route is also an option. The time commitment for conducting the survey and submitting data is roughly 10 hours total between April and July each year and will require being out after dark for roughly 2 hours during each survey period. Workshops are most appropriate for adults or older children (12+).
Each workshop has limited seats available and a $5.00 fee is required. Registration will close on March 28th at 5 pm or whenever the workshops have been filled. Direct questions to Stephanie Shepherd at vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.
Interested volunteers must register for one of the four training workshops.
IN PERSON:
April 2, 2022 (Saturday) | 1:00pm to 4:00pm |Scott County | Nahant Marsh
April 5, 2022 (Tuesday)| 6:30pm – 9:30 pm | Pottawattamie County | Hitchcock Nature Center
VIRTUAL ON ZOOM (Live):
ZOOM 1 March 29, 2022 (Tuesday) | 6:00pm – 8:30pm. The zoom session will open at 5:50 to allow people to get in and get settled. The workshop will start promptly at 6:00pm.
ZOOM 2 April 3, 2022 (Sunday) | 1:00pm to 3:30pm. The zoom session will open at 1:50 to allow people to get in and get settled. The workshop will start promptly at 1:00pm.
There is a $5 fee to cover workshop materials.
