Frog and toad choruses

20 frog and toad choruses along the East Atlantic Flyway, from Norway to Angola: when each one peaks, where to go on your own, what it costs and what you will hear. Wild animals only, no zoos.

Best time, place by place

Where to go, north to south

• Fire-bellied toads and green toads on the islandsDenmark · Amphibian chorus · peak 10 May–15 JunFire-bellied toads' soft, bell-like 'oop... oop' in chorus from cattle ponds — from a distance like distant church bells; green toads' long trills; natterjacks ratcheting on the beach meadows; tree frog volleys on Lolland.
• Common frog & toad spawningUnited Kingdom · Amphibian chorus · peak 20 Feb–25 MarSoft purring of frog aggregations and the high 'quark' release calls of toads — best close-up or with a hydrophone.
• Natterjack toad chorusUnited Kingdom · Amphibian chorus · peak 15 Apr–31 MayThe loudest amphibian in Britain — a rolling, ratcheting chorus audible up to 2 km away across dunes.
• Natterjack toad chorus on the Kerry dunesIreland · Amphibian chorus · peak 20 Apr–25 MayA loud, ratcheting 'rrrrRup, rrrrRup' chorus from dozens of males in shallow dune pools — the loudest amphibian in these islands — with the Atlantic surf behind the dunes and snipe overhead.
• Tree frog choruses of Zeeuws-VlaanderenNetherlands · Amphibian chorus · peak 1 May–31 MayA rattling, surprisingly loud 'kè-kè-kè-kè' chorus from hundreds of tree frogs around the old fortress moats and pools — audible across the polder — with marsh frogs and nightingales behind; the ramparts of Retranchement alone hold a few hundred.
• Fire-bellied toads, natterjacks and blue moor frogsGermany · Amphibian chorus · peak 25 Mar–7 Apr and 15 Apr–25 MayFire-bellied toad's melancholy 'uh...uh' by the hundred over shallow pasture ponds, moor frog's bubbling 'waug-waug' underwater chorus, natterjack's ratcheting trill carrying 2 km across dune slacks, tree frogs at full volume, bittern and crane in the background.
• Midwife toad piping in the villagesFrance · Amphibian chorus · peak 15 Apr–30 JunPure, bell-like single notes at about 1.2 kHz from dozens of males in dry-stone walls and rubble, like an out-of-tune carillon across a whole valley.
• Marsh frog & tree frog chorusesFrance · Amphibian chorus · peak 25 Apr–10 JunWall-to-wall marsh frog laughter from the Camargue ditches, ratcheting tree frogs from Brenne ponds, and natterjacks rolling across the Landes dune slacks.
• Frog and toad choruses of the Mittelland marshesSwitzerland · Amphibian chorus · peak 20 Apr–31 MayTree frog 'krak-krak-krak' volleys carrying a kilometre, water frog chorus, midwife toad's single flute notes from stone walls, natterjack ratchet in gravel pits, bittern and cuckoo behind.
• Frog nights in the Danube floodplain forestAustria · Amphibian chorus · peak 15 Apr–31 MayTree frog volleys and fire-bellied toads' soft hooting from the oxbows (Altarme), marsh frog laughter, night herons croaking overhead, nightingale and beaver tail-slaps; Danube barges as a slow low bed.
• Amphibian chorus of the intermittent lakeSlovenia · Amphibian chorus · peak 10 Apr–5 JunWall-to-wall Pelophylax chorus with tree frog 'krak-krak' on top, toad trills, yellow-bellied toad's soft 'poop-poop' from karst puddles, Savi's warbler and bittern in the mix.
• Frog choruses of the Sava and Danube floodplainsCroatia · Amphibian chorus · peak 10 Mar–25 Mar and 10 Apr–25 MayFire-bellied toads' soft 'oop-oop' by the thousand across flooded pasture, tree frog volleys, marsh frog laughter, green toad trills, cuckoo and nightingale at the edges, storks clattering.
• Tree frog & water frog chorusItaly · Amphibian chorus · peak 25 Apr–5 JunDeafening tree frog 'kra-kra-kra' choruses, with the laughing croaks of water frogs from rice paddies and ditches.
• Spring frog & toad choruses of the Andalusian marshesSpain · Amphibian chorus · peak 15 Mar–10 MayMassive Perez's frog choruses from the temporary lagoons, tree frog 'crra-crra' from the marsh edge, natterjack ratchets across the dune slacks, spadefoots' hen-like clucking from underwater, plus stone-curlews, red-necked nightjars and scops owls.
• Spring amphibian chorus of the Middle Atlas lakes and MamoraMorocco · Amphibian chorus · peak 10 Mar–30 AprA wall of Sahara frog laughter and the slow purr of Berber toads from the reed margins of the crater lakes, tree frogs' hard 'crra' from the willows, and — in the flooded cork-oak dayas of Mamora — the underwater 'kok' of Morocco's endemic spadefoot.
• First-rains frog chorus of the Gambian rice fields and forest poolsThe Gambia · Amphibian chorus · peak 15 Jun–15 AugOne of the great mass amphibian choruses: the running frog's popping bell notes in thousands, the whirr of reed frogs, grass frogs' rattles and the bass of Hoplobatrachus from flooded rice and forest pools, with the rain itself and the end-of-day thunder.
• First-rains frog chorus of the Guinean savanna and forestGuinea · Amphibian chorus · peak 15 May–31 JulWall-to-wall reed frogs, running frogs' bell notes and tree frogs from every flooded field and forest pool; thunder and rain are part of the take.
• First-rains frog chorus of the Liberian forest zoneLiberia · Amphibian chorus · peak 1 May–30 JunThe heaviest rains on the flyway coast produce some of its loudest amphibian nights — reed frogs, running frogs and tree frogs in every roadside pool and rice swamp, with thunder rolling in from the Atlantic.
• Rainy-season frog chorus at TaïCôte d'Ivoire · Amphibian chorus · peak 1 May–30 Jun and 1 Oct–10 NovDense stacked choruses of Hyperolius and Afrixalus over the pools, the hammering of Leptopelis and the metallic ticking of puddle frogs from the leaf litter, with katydids above them.
• First-rains frog chorus in the Upper Guinea forestGhana · Amphibian chorus · peak 1 May–15 Jun and 15 Sep–31 OctLayered choruses of reed frogs and Afrixalus at 3–5 kHz over the clicking of Kassina and the low honks of Leptopelis, from every pool and swamp along the forest roads, with crickets and katydids filling the gaps.

More: every animal and kind · what is on in October