This is a 20-second video that I took standing by our back gate a couple of days ago. In it you see a neighbor's house and the pond that's just outside our property. The pond is owned by the village. At this time of year, this is what we hear for at least a few hours every day out there. (Turn on your sound if it won't bother anybody...)
Do you recognize the noise? It's frogs croaking. This is their breeding season, and apparently it's the male frogs that are making such a racket. Les grenouilles coassent; c'est le verbe coasser. I have no idea how many frogs there are in the pond, and if I get closer to the pond the noise stops. In past years, I have taken photos of some of these frogs. For example, here are some from May 2018:
There's a green frog in this photo...
...et il y a deux grenouilles vertes dans celle-ci.
As always, you can enlarge these photos by clicking on them or doing the equivalent on your tablet.
I noticed a funny expression as I was looking things up for this post. J'ai des grenouilles dans le ventre... means "My stomach is growling." But don't forget: J'ai un chat dans la gorge... means "I've got a frog in my throat."
Mercy! That's intense....A favorite song of mine, since the early '60s is "El Grillo" on of the earliest printed pieces of music, celebrating what an excellent singer the frog is, and how he can hold a long note, but sings for love...That frog is rather more melodious than the ones in your neighborhood!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA2Ed5D1hHs the link....sorry.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, I think that song is about a cricket, not a frog! It's really too late here to think clearly.
ReplyDeleteThey are surprisingly loud and vocal. Wish Google Translate worked on them, might be interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, the frogs are all perfectly quiet this morning. No croaking at all that I've heard. We had 40 mm (about 1.6") of rain between Saturday night and Monday afternoon. Maybe all the frogs drowned. Ha ha.
DeleteHoly cow, that 's loud!
ReplyDeleteTrès amusant, Ken! Merci!
ReplyDeleteMary in Oregon
I never could figure out how spring peepers stopped when I tried to sneak up on them, and then someone pointed out that they sense it through vibrations you cause when you walk near them.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, this reminds me of when we tried to sleep in our motorhome beside a large pond in a French town I forget the name of....couldn’t sleep a wink all night!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely wonderful...
ReplyDelete