International Frog Month
April is recognized as International Frog Month, a time to celebrate frogs’ ecological importance, adaptability, and role as environmental indicators, while highlighting the need to protect their habitats as many species emerge from hibernation.
You could say that every day is Frog Day for me, but April was the month we installed our first Homebuilt Vernal Ponds and introduced them to the public. What began as an idea of bringing homestead-sized vernal ponds into backyards and community spaces has now taken real shape.
Alas, I was so busy preparing for our Ninth Annual Save The Frogs Day that I fell quite behind in my psychiatry notes and even took off the week before the event..
An Art Show
A Presentation
As many of you know, I live my life by F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on Goodness). By Frogincidence, a young lady by the name of Arden Coneybear, Environmental Health and Safety Specialist at ProAmpac, contacted me and asked to volunteer. She participated in our meetings and the art opening.
Then it turned out that Arden had had a last-minute cancellation of another speaker for the Environmental Week she was organizing at work and asked if we could step in. This was a great opportunity to share our work on vernal ponds and promote Save The Frogs Day to thirty or forty employees.
Doug earned his frog hat because I had decided to gift it to the person who seemed the most engaged and interested. He kept nodding along with understanding, so I called him up for his “reward”. It turns out he is the director of design, which might be handy in the future for our packaging phase.
The question I posed at the beginning was how many attendees thought of themselves as environmentalists, and not one raised their hands. Yes, I gave them a broad hint that I expected it of them after they learned what I had to say, and when the talk was over, all but one or two raised their hands.
Jaime Schaefer, Coordinator at ProAmpac’s Collaboration and Innovation Center, wrote “Growing up, my Mom was always terrified of frogs so they were something I never really paid much attention to. After meeting Margot and hearing about how important frogs are to our environment, I will now make sure that I am doing my part to be more of an environmentalist! Great information, and I am glad I was able to be a part of it!”
Scout Leadership
A major highlight of this season has been the leadership shown by Bryson Coccia, who called me early in the year asking to do his Eagle Scout Project with A Frog House. The point was to demonstrate leadership skills, so he instructed, while participating with, two separate teams of friends in building two ponds, one at A Frog House and in the Robert C. Corby Arboretum on April 17 and 18 respectively.
On Tuesday, April 21, Beth Adams and her photographer Max Schulte of WXXI spent several hours with Bryson and me at both A Frog House and the Arboretum to make a beautiful podcast aired that Friday morning.
Bryson made an informative and hilarious video documenting the project, which I included in a presentation to the Scouts Erie Trails District Roundtable on May 6, in an invitation to scouts to participate in similar wetland projects.There is no end to the possibilities of where these ponds can be built and why they matter.
These Ponds Matter
Save The Frogs Day at A Frog House Part I
Save The Frogs Day Arrives, and So Did The People!
One of our generous monthly contributors is Sophia’s landlord, who told Sophia “you have to meet Margot”, and so occurred another FrogIncidence. Sophia is doing a fifth year at the University of Rochester studying ecology and mythology. She was early for the event to set up, was a presence throughout, and stayed to help afterwards. That kind of commitment is always a blessing.
Frogincidentally, the weather was extremely cooperative, and as you can see, spectacular on our actual day of celebration. It even rained on Saturday, giving me time to get my thoughts and plan the set up and structure of the next day.
We estimate that 35 to 40 people attended each part of our program, with only a small overlap, as guests chose one or the other.
Professor Patrick , Greenhouse and Gardens Manager, became interested in the vernal ponds in the Robert C Corby Arboretum and Wildlife Sanctuary when they were built last year. Seizing the opportunity, he g Village Board approval, to collaborate with A Frog House to use them for his and student’s research.
The academic poster shown above about their initial project was prepared by the young women for Nazareth’s Creative Activity and Research Showcase (CARS). Although Jennifer Beaver, the other student collaborator, was unable to join us, we were delighted to have such thoughtful environmentalists at our event.
Make New Friends, but Keep the Old!
This family has not missed a single Save The Frogs Day or Frog House event since the beginning. Last October they helped to assemble the first version of our Homebuilt Vernal Pond kits, A Scout family, they have donated and planted trees, made and distributed bat boxes, gone camping and visited all kinds of wild animal sanctuaries. They really follow the wisdom in the well known girl scout round: “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other, gold.”
Save The Frogs Day at The Robert C. Corby Arboretum and Wildlife Sanctuary. Part II
“Registration” is in quotes, because everyone had already escaped into the vernal ponds, meadows and permaculture garden area. Also, our more formal activities went to the winds, because visitors had a great old time wandering around discovering nature for themselves.
The lovely Payton had gone to Florida for the weekend for a bridesmaid party, got up before the crack of dawn and flew back in time for our 3:00 pm tours and ribbon cutting ceremony. Payton started with A Frog House in October last year, after showing up for the Permaculture Garden planting, and has been with us ever since.
This summer we hope Payton will collaborate with Patrick Garrett on research with A Frog House as she prepares to enter graduate studies in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, focusing on freshwater mussel conservation genetics. Together, we hope to explore how small backyard wetlands may contribute to larger watershed health and biodiversity.
Rob Corby said he did not expect anyone to attend this part of the program. I say, never underestimate the power of a woman who depends on F.R.O.G!
All, except Dave, Lisa and I, are members of the board of Friends of the Arboretum . Dave and Lisa are members of the board of the Village of Pittsford, and liasons to the Friends as well as to A Frog House. Unfortunately, Mayor Plummer was unable to be with us, and assigned Deputy Mayor Marshall to do the honors in her stead. What a Frogincidence that the ribbon we chose matched Dave’s shirt!
At the End of the Day
Distribution of our Vernal Pond Kits
At Abundance Coop, Impact Earth and at A Frog House on Save The Frogs Day, twenty one individuals signed up to be possible recipients of our seven free vernal pond kits. Each will receive a questionnaire so that we can select recipients who best meet the criteria recommended by our grantor, Village and Wilderness .
Frog Fantasy
Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, October 12, 2013 Pokemon.com. Greninja’s French name is Amphinobi, a contraction of Amphibian and Shinobi. Reddit
We are also pleased to welcome a new writer, Phillip Miner, a young gamer who brings a fresh and new perspective on frogs. His article explores connections between gaming, systems thinking, and the natural world, offering a new way to engage a different demographic in conservation. You can see his article here .
We Still Need Help!
Many people send me photos, videos, cartoons, and frog-related things to buy across all kinds of platforms. Even someone interested in curating all of these into one place would be a huge help. I just don’t have the bandwidth to keep up.
Volunteers for any of our activities, and financial support in any amount, go a long way toward keeping us motivated and moving forward. We love to have guests and visitors on Sunday afternoons and at our events, but all of these things take effort and money.
Do you like A Frog House and what we do? Then please let us know in concrete ways, through your time, participation, and donations.
