The Calling Frog Survey Online Data Entry

Database Update The existing Calling Frog Survey database experienced a lot of problems in 2017 and despite repair attempts, login issues and route mapping issues persisted. Legacy data are backed up Currently applying for grants to move CFS into PollardBase, a relational database that houses the IL Butterfly Monitoring Network and is soon to house IL Odonate Survey In the interim, we will use a Google Form to collect data until a new database is available.

Changes with the Google Form No login/password required, but your route should still be approved by your local coordinator or the program coordinator No tool to display the map of the route You can select an option to receive a copy of data you have submitted via email, but legacy data are not visible If you want to see your data entered earlier in the season, or in a previous year, email Allison for a downloaded copy of the data at: asacerdote-velat@naturemuseum.org

Getting Started Go to www.frogsurvey.org and click “Data Entry And Output” on the right-hand side of the screen

Getting Started Once on the Data Entry and Output page, click on “Enter Data Here” on the left-hand side of the page. Detailed data entry instructions are accessible at the link below.

Data Entry in the Google Form The link brings you to the Google Form for The Calling Frog Survey Data Entry.

Important Note You need to complete a separate form for each time you go out monitoring. For example, if you monitor five times during the season, you will complete five separate forms. Each form requires a unique date to be entered to identify the particular monitoring event.

Describe the habitat types along your approved route. An email address is required. Use a consistent email address for all data entry. A name for your approved monitoring route is required. Give your route a consistent, descriptive name. Name, Describe the habitat types along your approved route.

Choose the state from the dropdown menu. Choose the county from the dropdown menu. Enter your name Enter the date on which you monitored. *Note, separate forms are required for each monitoring session. Choose Sampling Round 1, 2, or 3 based on the time of year.

Select Yes or No Select Yes or No Indicate the time you started monitoring for each listening point (or location) on your route. There is space to include up to 8 locations. If you have less locations , leave the rest blank Remember that monitoring must take place in the evening, after sunset. We cannot include data recorded during daylight in our analyses.

Enter the sky code for each location monitored, selecting a code between 0-9 from the multiple choice grid. If you have less than 8 locations along your route, just leave the extras rows blank. For example, Kermit monitored a route with 5 locations, so he didn’t select anything for locations 6-8. Use the scroll bar at the bottom to view all choices for sky code.

Enter the cloud cover to the nearest 10% for each location monitored, selecting between 0-100%from the multiple choice grid. Again, if you have less than 8 locations along your route, just leave the extras blank.

Enter the wind code for each location monitored, selecting between 0-5 from the multiple choice grid.

Type in the air temperature in degrees Fahrenheit for each location/ listening point on your route.

Location Coordinates Answer whether you have entered location coordinates for your route this season, or indicate if one or more locations have changed. If you already entered coordinates, select “Yes” and advance to the Frog Call observation section. Otherwise, you will need to enter location coordinates as the next step.

Entering Coordinates Give each location a descriptive name so it can be found again even if you change routes in the future. Enter each set of location coordinates with latitude and longitude in decimal degrees Please note, the longitude should be negative

Important notes about Locations If you record your coordinates for your sampling locations and keep the same locations throughout the season, you only need to enter the coordinates for the first sampling round of the season. If you change locations during the season, you need to enter the new coordinates and enter a note at the end of the form about the change. Note, the database will not “remember” your route. You have to enter the location coordinates at least once per season.

Once you have entered all of your locations, hit “Next” at the bottom of the page to enter the observations or “back” to make any corrections

Observations For each species heard at each location, select the call index of 1, 2, or 3 in the multiple choice grid. The form will display the list of 13 regional species for each location. If a species was not heard, leave the call index blank. In this example, only chorus frogs (index 3), spring peepers (index 2) and N. leopard frogs (index 1) were heard. No wood frogs were heard, so the field is blank. If no species were heard at a location, write “No frogs heard” in the notes for that location at the bottom of the page.

The species observed and call index must be entered in a separate multiple choice grid for each location on your route. Scroll down to enter call index data for each of location on your route. Do not combine all observations from the entire route into one location grid.

Other notes and Submitting Data Additional notes may be entered at the end of the form. You may use the toggle switch to receive a copy of your responses for your records. Don’t forget to hit “Submit” at the bottom of the page!

Confirmation If your data has been submitted, you will see this confirmation message. You can click “Submit another response” to enter data for your next monitoring session.

If you have questions about online data entry and output Email: Allison Sacerdote-Velat, Calling Frog Survey Coordinator asacerdote-velat@naturemuseum.org