American Toads trilling at dawn. 5:15am, 12 May 2016. Finger Lakes National Forest . © Lang Elliott. Please wear headphones. And on’t play to loudly … adjust the volume so that the toad trills fall soft on one’s ear.
Cool weather over the last two weeks has put a damper on the breeding activities of American Toads. I’ve been hard-pressed to get a good recording of their trilling, or rather “dreaming” (see Thoreau quote below). But last week I finally had success when I came upon a small cluster of toads sounding off at the break of dawn against a pleasant backdrop of springtime bird songs.
Toad dreams are quite musical to the ear, at least when heard from a distance. My ear seems specially tuned to hear them … I often detect their trilling from a great distance, long before my companions notice it. It’s not that my hearing is more sensitive, but rather has to do with the tuning of my mind. Every spring I anticipate their calling. I listen carefully for it (though effortlessly), poised to catch even the weakest glimmer-of-a-trill, riding on the wave of a light breeze.
Henry David Thoreau was also well-tuned to hear the dream of the toads, as the following entry from his diary demonstrates:
October 26, 1853
I well remember the time this year when I first heard the dream of the toads. I was laying out house-lots on Little River in Haverhill. We had had some raw, cold and wet weather. But this day was remarkably warm and pleasant, and I had thrown off my outside coat. I was going home to dinner, past a shallow pool, which was green with springing grass, and where a new house was about being erected, when it occurred to me that I heard the dream of the toad. It rang through and filled all the air, though I had not heard it once.
And I turned my companion’s attention to it, but he did not appear to perceive it as a new sound in the air. Loud and prevailing as it is, most men do not notice it at all. It is to them, perchance, a sort of simmering or seething of all nature. That afternoon the dream of the toads rang through the elms by Little River and affected the thoughts of men, though they were not conscious that they heard it.
How watchful we must be to keep the crystal well that we were made, clear!
I particularly love Thoreau’s reference to “the crystal well that we were made.” This is deeply meaningful to me. In today’s frantic world, our receptors (= our “crystal wells”) are so easily clouded by the noisiness of both our minds and our machines. I am always striving to keep my well as clear as possible, so that I remain able to hear the first toad trill of the season, as it floats softly across the natural landscape. “Listen … do you hear the dream of the toads?”
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts about this wonderful music of nature.
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Dear Lang, again, thank you, thank you; I love that you shared Thoreau’s musings as well, beautiful. Starting in March I look forward to the first time I hear the red winged blackbirds which, for me, is better than Christmas! From the return of our red winged friends, I anxiously listen for the spring peepers. The toads at dawn track is a delight–the joy that the these sounds bring to me runs parallel to the feeling of deep refuge that hearing these sounds gives. They help me relax into the natural world that holds and sustains me. Thank you for… Read more »
Ah … those lightning bugs … can’t wait to see them myself.
I love the toads. I love their song. Your Thunder Toads CD is especially wonderful. For me though, it’s the spring peepers. My dad always made a point to notice the first peepers, always marking down the earliest day they would chirp on his yearly Ansel Adams calendar. It was because of toads, spring peppers and red wing blackbirds that he always said that he could have managed going blind but it would have been a tragedy to ever lose his hearing. To this day, I always anticipate the first peeps and when I hear them I feel closer to… Read more »
Wonderful story Rebecca. I’ll think of it every time I hear the “first peeps” of the season. For me, it’s the anticipation that fills me with energy and makes me listen more carefully. I hate it when someone tells me that they “heard them last week”. Why then didn’t I hear them? Most likely, because I wasn’t properly tuned-in, my crystal well was not quite clear, and I was not spending enough time out in nature.
The sounds are so soothing. I have been listening to a serenade of music from all the birds singing here this morning. The 17 year locust are emerging as well which I will not enjoy.
17-year cicada? So you live in eastern Ohio or West Virginia? Those states are at the center of this year’s emergence. I plan to travel over that way at the end of May.
wow, every one you do lately is such a gem. i have always loved this song. is one of the choruses that goes on outside my window at night–but not accompanied by such lovely bird song. this one is hypnotic.
I think the force is with me!
i agree
Another aural gem! What a beautiful piece of music. It seems to me that the toads aren’t trilling quite as intensely as I usually hear them, or perhaps they are buffered by all of the other instruments. The toads were going crazy near me last week, on the same walk where I heard the Veery Thrush calling, but they were accompanied by the constant firing of artillery, which wasn’t quite as pleasing to the ear as this orchestra.
Chris: I was glad that they weren’t cranking too loudly, too frenetically. It was a cool morning, so their calling was subdued. In fact, they weren’t calling at all when we arrived at that spot. About fifteen minutes later one piped up. It took me a few minutes to choose my location and set up my gear. I hit record and they called for about ten more minutes (with some periods of silence) then quit altogether. I was thrilled to have gotten that brief and relaxed interlude of dreaming toads.
I’m pretty thrilled too. This is the most pleasurable American Toad song performance I have ever heard.
We had a shallow pond behind our house in Frankfort, NY, been missing these sounds since moving to town 19 years ago. Also. thanks you so much for the Thoreau passage.
I love Thoreau’s writings about the toads. Ever since I read his phrase “dream of the toads,” I’ve been passing it along to everyone I meet who seems interested.
thanks, lang ! i’m not getting out at the right times to fill my ears with these guys.
i do love ’em ♥
Thanks you. I too love the sound of the toads. Any chance you will make a CD with the Toads? Most restful and transporting..
Don: I already have one. It’s called “Thunder Toads”:
http://store.musicofnature.com/products/pure-nature/thunder-toads/
This is by far the most enjoyable recording I’ve heard. I love hearing the toads trill and bird songs. I think it’s nicely balanced.
Thank you.
Hi Lang – I’ve been listening to your recordings for the last couple of months now. I must say, they are a bit of a highlight. It’s the first email I go to. I can’t wait for you to put them all in a recording. Keep up the good work.
thank you Yvonne!
Such a relaxing sound. If the birds didn’t sound so chipper, I could drift off to sleep.
Powerful nourishment in this entry, Lang. Interesting to hear that the birds tastefully accompany while the dream is the featured voice. Perhaps they enjoy the song of their flightless brethren. You are Nature’s bodhisattva and so she reveals her mantras to you. You in your joy then cast them wide, and we are all blessed.
: >) Actually, I was very careful with respect to where I placed the mic, trying to get the proper balance between birds and toads. I think I did okay in this respect, although I wish I had placed an additional mic a little farther away from the toads for a slightly more distant rendering of the trills. then I could choose the one I like the best.
Your toads trill. Ours West Coast toads seem to only grumble and click. I’m jealous, but happy that we at least have toads. Perhaps I’ve missed it as I don’t navigate the Internet well, but if you haven’t already done this I think you should write a book of your observations and nature experience and include a DVD with it.
Marilee: I’ve done a number of books with CDs, but I think that’s no longer a very viable delivery platform for my work. The internet (eg. this blog) is a perfect multimedia delivery platform, allowing folks to hear the recording as they’re reading, plus see pics, etc. Producing this content, however, is a shaky proposition in in terms of my finances, although it feels good and correct to share media for free. My long-term plan (right now anyway) is for my blog to lead into a podcasting series that hopefully will become very popular and bring in the needed dollars… Read more »
Lang, the “crystal wells” met me in my Study this morning and quickly became the “dream of the toads.” We are so bombarded with the everyday sounds of noise pollution around us that we need these quite special moments you provide — thank you. Please do me a favor of looking up on Google Martha Postlethwaite and read her “Clearings” if you have not already been introduced to her. My special place that no one knows about, but one which I go to often is writhing the Lake Elmo Park Preserve of Oakdale, MN — it is a marsh area… Read more »
Stephen: your “special place” sounds like a lovely spot. And that’s truly a wonderful poem you have recommended by Martha Postlethwaite. I just read it for the first time and find it very meaningful: Do not try to serve the whole world or do anything grandiose. Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently, until the song that is yours alone to sing falls into your open cupped hands and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself to the world so worthy of rescue. by Martha… Read more »
Wonderful! I would not have known that was toad’s singing – or dreaming as Henry David called it! I loved hearing it, and also reading his words. Many thanks for all your recordings – they bring me much pleasure.
You’re welcome Barbara. I truly love to hear those trills in the spring … and they always make me think of Thoreau and his uncanny ability to dream along with the toads.