Tree frog & water frog chorus
Italian tree frog (Hyla intermedia), Pelophylax water frogs. Po plain, Tuscany, wetlands nationwide, Italy.
Best time: 25 Apr – 5 Jun (April to June). Where: Lomellina rice fields, Mortara (Pavia), Padule di Fucecchio, Tuscany, Parco del Delta del Po – Comacchio (Italy). Time of day: Tree frogs start at dusk and reach full volume 1–2 h after dark, running to about 01:00 on warm nights.
- You can go on your own
- Free
- No binoculars needed
- Sound 5/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 25 Apr – 5 Jun. Late April to early June
Active from 1 Apr to 15 Jul (April to July) in a typical year.
Time of day
Tree frogs start at dusk and reach full volume 1–2 h after dark, running to about 01:00 on warm nights; water frogs call by day too but are loudest in the same window.
- Night chorus: 30 min after sunset → 01:00
What will you hear?
Deafening tree frog 'kra-kra-kra' choruses, with the laughing croaks of water frogs from rice paddies and ditches.
Binoculars?
No binoculars needed. Deafening chorus from the paddy edge; a torch finds tree frogs on the reeds.
Where to go
- Lomellina rice fields, Mortara (Pavia) — Flooded paddies in May; heron colonies nearby, farm pumps running. Map
- Padule di Fucecchio, Tuscany — Italy's largest inland marsh; visitor centre at Castelmartini. Map
- Parco del Delta del Po – Comacchio — Huge wetlands; mosquitoes. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Record from public road margins beside flooded paddies around Mortara (Lomellina) after dark — the fields are private. Padule di Fucecchio: free access on the public paths from the Castelmartini visitor centre car park. Comacchio: the public embankments and the Argine Agosta road.
Cost: Free.
Field-recording notes
Very high SPL up close — sit 20–30 m back for a balanced chorus and use pads if going in tight. Farm pumps and roads cross the Po plain, so scout by day. Rice fields are private: record from the road margins.
Sources
Similar spectacles
Natterjack toad chorusThe loudest amphibian in Britain — a rolling, ratcheting chorus audible up to 2 km away across dunes.
Natterjack toad chorus on the Kerry dunesA 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-VlaanderenA 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 frogsFire-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.
Marsh frog & tree frog chorusesWall-to-wall marsh frog laughter from the Camargue ditches, ratcheting tree frogs from Brenne ponds, and natterjacks rolling across the Landes dune slacks.
Frog nights in the Danube floodplain forestTree 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.
More: all spectacles in Italy · frog and toad choruses · Italy in April · Italy in May · Italy in June