Both of the frogs love the seasonal wetlands that form in the winter and usually last into late spring. What better place to to lay your eggs than in a body of water with no fish to worry about. Well there are some hazards to these seasonal wetlands, with drought being a big one. Sometimes in dry winters, if the wetlands form, they don't last very long. Maybe it is wet while the frogs are laying eggs, but then with out the continuing rain, the wetlands dry up before the eggs can hatch, or if they have hatched, the wetlands get dry before the larvae can become adults. It seems pretty sad, but it is part of nature. Of course there are natural predators too that the frogs and their eggs must worry about. Spotted Salamanders will eat the eggs when they get the opportunity. Dragon fly larvae can and do eat the tadpoles. Sometimes birds can be predators too. So when you really look at it, the seasonal wetlands can be a pretty tough place to live.
The Spring Peeper is a very small frog and is distinctive not only due to it's call, "peep", but also due to the X mark on it's back. Here is a picture
photo credit JD Wilson from Herps of NC website
The Upland Chorus Frog has a unique call too, here is a picture of one
photo credit RW Van Devender from the Herps of NC website
To learn more about these and other amphibians in North Carolina check out this website, the best for our state http://www.herpsofnc.org/ This is also the best site for information on NC reptiles.
There is a large seasonal wetland just below the amphitheater parking lot at West Point on the Eno. If you park at the amphitheater lot, get out and walk down the gravel road to the paved path, take a left on the paved path and when you are about 2/3 of the way through the open meadow take a left through the grass and you will come to it. There are lots of other places to explore in the park and other parks too. Now go out and find some small bodies of water or even big puddles and start looking and listening.
