Agile Frog
Identification: Slender (light) brown frog with a sharp, slightly rounded nose. Length up to 9 cm, usually smaller. Pupil horizontal, elliptical. Eardrum about the same size as the eye and nearly always close to it (the distance to the eye is usually smaller than half of the diameter of the eardrum). On the border between the flank and back, there are dorsolateral folds. These are separated relatively far from each other and are usually lighter coloured than the surrounding skin. The back is yellowish to reddish brown (coloration of dead leaves), sometimes marked with scattered darker blotches. Along the dorsolateral folds, dark spots or stripes can be present. The hind limbs usually have a pattern of dark bars. There is often a V-shaped patch between the shoulders. Also, heavily spotted or very dark animals can be found. There is a light stripe along the upper lip. The belly usually is uniformly whitish. Dark spots can be present on the throat, and then a band over the middle of the throat remains uniform. Hind legs relatively long with webbing between the toes. Quite large metatarsal tubercles, in form and size intermediate between those of the Moor Frog and the Common Frog. Males are smaller than females, have thicker front legs and white (in the breeding season, grey) nuptial pads on the thumbs.
Range: Mid and southern Europe. On the Iberian Peninsula only in the Basque Country. Further north in Europe, there are some isolated localities. In the British Isles it only occurs on Jersey.
Habitat: Prefers light, both moist and relatively dry, broad-leaved woods with herbaceous vegetation. Also in moist meadows and thickets. Breeds in small and somewhat larger waters in or close to woodland. Found mainly at low altitudes, but in the Alps up to altitudes of 1700 metres.
Habits: Mainly crepuscular or nocturnal. In breeding season, also seen during the day. They migrate to breeding waters from the beginning of February. From the end of March to May, the animals leave the water. Females enter the water only for a short while to lay their eggs. They produce a clump of 500-1200 eggs, which is attached around twigs or stems at some depth, so that it looks as if they have been impaled on these. The clumps later float up to the surface. After about 3 weeks, they hatch and the larvae are a little less than 1 cm long. At a length of about 6 cm, they metamorphose. Newly metamorphosed frogs go onto land from mid-June, they are 1-1.5 cm long. After 2-3 years they mature. Agile Frogs hibernate in the soil on land, only exceptionally under water (in Greece quite often).
How to find: Walk carefully amongst the undergrowth in woodland. Frogs will jump up, and are capable of very long leaps.
Call: Quiet, fast repeated "qwoch
qwoch
qwoch
", increasing in loudness, about 4-6 calls a second. Regularly calls under water as well. Forms large choruses, sometimes calls in the day.