Spring Peeper in Summer

So seduced am I by seasonality that I sometimes overlook out-of-sequence wonders like spotting a spring peeper in summer. I habitually associate the sound of peepers “singing” with our springtime awakening — streams flowing, buds bursting, dandelions illuminating lawns. But one of these sweet singers in early July? Sure. Why not?!

To be candid, my muse today isn’t the subject of my scientific inquiry. I’m no scientist. Just as I’m no historian. And yet I’m an enthusiast of both science and history. I approach both the natural and historical wonders I encounter in my Rosslyn wanders with a humble (and often ignorant) curiosity and enthusiasm. It makes for an ever exciting existence! So, perhaps it’s simply my native naiveté that inspired today’s post about peepers.

Do we hear fewer peepers in late summer? I believe that we do. And it seems that there may be a science-y reason for that. Breeding. These vocal frogs are serenading mates when they displace springtime’s silence with zealous song. And by now, apparently, they’ve settled into the post conjugating conjugal bliss!

Or something. Maybe a bit better science here.

The spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern United States and Canada… The peeper earned its name from its chirping call, which marks the beginning of spring. Crucifer is derived from the Latin root meaning “cross-bearing”, a reference to the cross-like pattern on the spring peeper’s dorsal side. Spring peepers are nocturnal insectivores, emerging at night to feed primarily on small invertebrates, such as beetles, ants, flies, and spiders. (Source: Wikipedia)

A nocturnal insectivore is just as welcome as a dusky serenader, in my opinion. And that’s even leaning a little practical for this mostly romantically inclined flaneur. If you’ve few minutes here are a few previous cameos from our vociferous a capella wild neighbors.

I bend your ear to a different black-and-white reference (with an even sexier soundtrack!) … The sound of water gurgling snd burbling in Library Brook. A coyote calling, a barred owl hooting, and a vixen screaming. Peepers chirping and bullfrogs croaking. (Source: Strangers in the Night)

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It’s late summer, the height of harvest season. Crepuscular birdsong serenades sunset, peepers and croakers texture background sound, the temperature has started to settle, and the smell of fresh cut grass wafts up as our bare feet sink into the still warm lawn. (Source: Icehouse Cove Lighting)

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Some sounds that weave their way through Rosslyn days and nights are year round. Church bells. Wind and wave action. Ferry clanks and rumbles. Others are seasonal. Canada geese migrating. Peepers and croakers. Grouse drumming. Wind chimes dinging and bonging outside the screen porch. (Source: Wind Chimes)

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Meandering our nature trails to observe snow and yielding to the warming. Library Brook thaws and swells. Bud’s burst into blooms, dramatically revitalizing shrubs and trees. Browns begin to green. Peepers and croakers sing. Grouse drum. Turkeys court. Baby mammals appear… (Source: Play Daily)

Tomorrow, my American friends, is Independence Day. A time for reflection, fireworks, fêting with family and friends, and all manner of music. And if perhaps you take a moment at the back of your lawn or during an evening jog by a pond, I hope that you’re lucky enough to enjoy spring peepers in summer. Let them gobble up insects so that you don’t get bug bites. And let’s contemplate the possibility that they’d prefer to be called spring-and-summer peepers.