Frogwatch is a LONG-TERM citizen science project looking at the population dynamics of local frog species at DESIGNATED Frogwatch sites. If you would like to contribute to Frogwatch, come to one of our regular training seminars to learn all about the when, how and where of frogwatching.
To do a survey at your chosen Frogwatch site(s) you need a
For a survey you need to record (on your field data sheet)
A survey will take approximately 10-15 mins.
Go right to the edge of the water and look back towards the bank. Find the highwater mark and squad down so that your eyes are in line with it. Now estimate the difference between the highwater level/your eye level (pond full) and the current level (where your feet are) by 'eye-balling' it to the nearest 25cm.
You can train yourself by taking along a 1m ruler (or a piece of wood 1m long) and standing it at the water's edge (you can tape the ruler onto a sharpened stake that can be pushed into the mud/clay without it covering up part of the ruler - alternatively you can just take a stake and mark the 20 cm increments on it but leave some of the stake so it can be pushed into the clay. Then squat down behind or beside the ruler so your line of vision is about level with the highwater mark to make the visual estimate.
Then tie a string at the sighted level, run it across to the nearby highwater mark, level it (with a line-spirit level, $5 at the hardware store) and read the measurement- this will be a good practise to find out if your estimates are good enough. It doesn’t need to be too accurate – just to the nearest 25cm.
1: Full; 2: 1 to 25 cm down; 3: 26-50 cm down; 4: 50 - 75 cm down; 5: 76-100 cm down; 6: greater than 1 metre down).
This will provide important information about the holding capacity of the water body. Simply guess if the
pond level is <30cm
pond level >30cm
then fill in the next bit IS THE
POND FULL
POND NEARLY FULL = distance to plant cover less than 25cm
POND BANK VERY EXPOSED = large area of exposed mud, gravel etc.
POND EARLY DRY = just a muddy puddle left in a large area of dry or damp clay, silt etc.
POND DRY = dry cracked clay, no water
Cast your eye along the edge of the water, all the way around the pond. Find the spot with the largest and with the shortest distance between the high water mark and the water's edge. Measure the distance and enter your results onto the field data sheet. If a pond has fringe vegetation and despite a drop in water level this vegetation covers the distance between edge of the pond and the highwater mark your measurement will for the shortest distance will be 0m. All measurements should be in meters.
This will describe the percentage of current pond surface area that is covered by vegetation above the water. Your estimate will have to fit into one of the following categories:
NONE
JUST LOCALIZED
COVERS <25% of pond
COVERS <50% of pond
COVERS <75% of pond
COVERS <100% of pond
COVERS the entire pond
This will describe the percentage of vegetated pond edge. Your estimate will have to fit into one of the following categories:
NONE
JUST LOCALIZED
COVERS <10% of edge
COVERS <25% of edge
COVERS <50% of edge
COVERS <75% of edge
COVERS <100% of edge
COVERS the entire edge
Is there evidence of recent/regular mowing within 10m of the pond?
No
Yes- what is the width of unmown buffer around the pond?
<1m
1-5m
>5m