Date Start—May 31, 2017
Date End—June 2, 2017
Participants— Colby: Cathy and Louis Bevier, Bonje Obua, Corin Balan
Unity College: Cheryl Frederick, Tom Aversa, Greg LeClair, Rachel Bidek
Brief Description: Our first research trip of 2017 for the Colby College/Unity College Amphibian Health project was a success; we are feeling confident about our sampling design to explore the intrinsic and extrinsic influences on amphibian health using Green 
Frogs (Lithobates clamitans) as our model. We spent Wednesday scoping out the 14 ponds on Allen Island, and these vary widely in size and habitat features. Most of the ponds support a healthy population of Green Frogs and ultimately we’ll designate three of these as our official sampling ponds for the Allen Island populations. Wednesday and part of Thursday were somewhat overcast or windy for the majority of the day. This certainly influenced how obvious or easy the frogs were to find and capture. The males were a lot more vocal under sunny and warm conditions. In keeping up with overall phenology of wildlife, bird migration was winding down, and several species are in nesting mode. Early-nesting birds, such as Killdeer, American Robin, and Red Crossbill, already are feeding young.
Louis’s eBird lists:
31 May morning: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37290356
31 May afternoon: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37294294
1 June all day: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37316216