A few good 'citizen scientists' needed to gather data on wetlands

A Calgary environmental research institute is looking for a few good citizen scientists to help it compile data on Calgary amphibians.

That was the message delivered Wednesday by Nicole Kahalof the Miistakis Institute when she spoke with theCalgary Eyeopener's Angela Knight from a wetlands area in Monterrey Park in the city's northeast.

Knight is spending a few days this summer exploring the Rotary Mattamy Greenway, a 138-kilometre-long series of interconnected paths that surroundCalgary.

• Calgary's 138-km Greenway creates one of the largest pathway networks in the world

"While you're out enjoying the pathway, you can participate in a citizen science project called Call of the Wetland by downloading our app on either the App Store or Google Play, and visiting wetlands and letting us know which amphibiansyou are seeing or hearing," said Kahal.

Kahal said that there are six amphibian species that they are trying to compile data on: three frogs, two toads and one salamander.

The most popular? That would be the chorus frog, Kahal said.

"They're quite small, which makes them harder to see andthey blend in withtheir environment, so listening for them is really the easiest way to tell which species are in the wetland."

Most elusive species?

"We're really hoping to observe the northern leopard frog in Calgary," she said.

While the noisiest time of the year mating season in May has passed, the institute's survey continues through the end of August,Kahaladded.

"August is a great time to see adult frogs swimming and jumping over your local wetlands," she said.

Here are a few photos of the sights you may see on your wetland wildlife tracking adventure:

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With files from Angela Knight and the Calgary Eyeopener.