Please follow these instructions when frogwatching

1. Make sure that you have the necessary equipment and that you are ready to monitor at an appropriate time during the year to hear breeding frogs and toads.
    
2. Arrive at your wetland around sundown, so you can take notes about changes to the site.  You can start frogwatching 30 minutes after sunset or later.
   
   Remember to keep a distance between you and the site.  This will ensure that the breeding area is left undisturbed.  If you want to explore the area around the site, please follow the Declining Amphibians Populations Task Force Fieldwork Code of Practice: Click here
    
3. Record the weather information that is asked for on the Frogwatch USA data sheet.
    
• Air Temperature
• Wind Speed (using the Beaufort Wind Scale)
• Current Precipitation
• Weather History
   
4. Stay quiet for a couple of minutes before starting to listen for frogs and toads.  Remain as quiet as possible during this time so you don't disturb the frogs and toads – they may stop singing if you make too much noise.
    
5. When you are ready, cup your hands around your ears and listen for precisely 3 minutes.
   
   After 3 minutes, record:
    
• The time you started listening.
• The time you stopped.
• The different species that you heard.
• The calling intensity for each species separately, use the frog and toad calling index.

You can start over if you are disturbed – for example, an airplane flies overhead or a car drives past you.  Just remember to change the time you started on your data sheet.
 

6. If you aren't sure about what you are hearing, bring your recording of frog and toad calls with you for a reference.  If you are unable to identify a call, you could record what you are hearing at your site and send the recording to Frogwatch USA.
    
7. Submit your data online or send your data sheets to Frogwatch USA by US mail: Gideon Lachman, Frogwatch USA Coordinator, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 12100 Beech Forest Road, Laurel, MD 20708-4038, Phone: (301) 497-5819, Email: frogwatch@usgs.gov.  You don't have to report your data after every visit, but you should send your data to Frogwatch USA in a timely matter so that your observations can be analyzed.