Kildare to help count rare 'Common' frogs

Kildare County Council, in partnership with the Irish Peatlands Conservation Council (IPCC), is seeking the public’s help to paint a clearer picture of how frogs are faring across the county.

Members of the public are asked to record any sightings of the various stages of the common frog’s lifecycle, including frog spawn, tadpoles, froglets, or adult frogs, in their own gardens or the wider local community.

Only 17 records of the supposedly common frog sightings were received from Kildare last year.

To ascertain if this means that the common frog population in County Kildare is in decline, members of the public are asked to become citizen scientists and take part in ‘Hop To It’, Irelands longest running frog survey.

Reflecting on the importance of every sighting, Meabh Boylan, biodiversity officer with Kildare County Council said: “Many people in Ireland carry vivid memories of early childhood encounters with frogs and I am no different”.

“I remember being on a family trip to a local wetland in springtime; the pond margin was a frenzy of dozens of frogs and masses of frog spawn.

“Being so young, and not fully understanding what was afoot, I recall screaming to my parents in disbelief: 'This one has two heads!'

“Such encounters, although often personally exciting, educational, and potentially formative regarding developing a connection with the natural world, may seem incidental in the broader scheme of things.

“However, we now know that these individual encounters can contribute to so much more."