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Build it and they will come - Printable Version - March 4, 2013 - 2 Comments

A quick follow-up piece of news on the East Lents (Foster Floodplain Natural Area) project we posted about last week. Environmental Services staff visiting the site the other day discovered several masses of Red-legged frog eggs.

Frog egg mass This is a great sign that native species are returning to this section of Johnson Creek as the water quality, habitat and hydrology of the watershed are being protected and improved. For more on why Red-legged frogs are particularly special, see the news about this charasmatic guy.

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Posted by: Jacqui Parker - April 11, 2013 08:58 PM

There seem to be a lot of Frogs around outer SE Portland this year. I never heard them from my house before and I have been hearing them this spring. Also in other locations where I work around 182/Division, there are tons of frogs around there. I was wondering if that specific area used to be a creek bed or something... The ground is really rocky.... and all those frogs...

Posted by: City Green - April 12, 2013 10:29 AM

One of our Johnson Creek biologists says the noise is likely the Pacific tree frog, often referred to as the Pacific chorus frog. They're very vocal this time of year, while Red-legged frogs don't make noise. The Pacific tree frogs breed in still waters as shallow as six inches. Looking at aerial photos, there appears to be a couple of stormwater ponds to the west of SE 182nd and standing water at a large industrial site to the East, so that may be one source of their abundance. Pacific tree frogs are a keystone species as many other native species rely on them for food, so that's a good sign for watershed health.