Frog Eggs for Daylight Savings Time

Maya and I celebrated the return of Daylight Savings Time this evening by walking in the woods after dinner at 7:30.  We went down the trail to the frog ponds carrying a container for frog eggs, and sure enough, there were hundreds.  We carefully lifted one gelatinous clump and put it in the container.  We then had a fine walk home through the darkening woods, so happy to have the light still bright enough to walk so late in the evening. 

At home we stood the container under a bright light and I drew the eggs while Maya researched eggs.  We found a dichotomous key that led us through questions until we landed on Wood Frog, which we had suspected, but which was nice to have confirmed.  There are a few white eggs in this batch, and these seem to be unfertilized eggs that will quickly decay.  You can see some in 4160 and 4165 and 4163 and 4161.  Maya will take home these rescues and hatch them in an aquarium;  then when the tadpoles have developed legs and are coming out of the water onto a piece of wood that sticks out of the water, we will release them back into their natal pond so they can escape to the nearby woods.