Friday, July 01, 2005

Frogz


Southern Leopard Frog (Rana sphenocephala)

Hiding in the grass of a sunny bank, just as the field guide specified. The guide also says that this species is hunted for frog legs - but those would be some mighty small portions. I believe that bullfrogs would be the more commonly eaten species.


Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Climbing up the back shop wall at night. I wanted to verify for myself that they walked rather than hopped. This one wasn't budging though, except to make himself into as small a lump as possible.

Don't forget to go look at the Friday Ark!

13 comments:

Unknown said...

You have such cool looking frogs in your neck of the woods! We have toads out here, but I haven't seen one in a while -- not since I had a pool, in fact. They would lurk in the grass and jump just before I stepped on them :-)

Lorianne said...

Oh, you always post such cool froggy pix! :-)

I don't think we have green treefrogs here, just gray ones. They're more mottled than the one you show, and although they change colors, I don't think they ever reach such a brilliant shade of yellow-green.

robin andrea said...

Very cool looking frogs. How do you get so close to photograph them? Every now and then we see a frog jump into the pond -- just as we are getting too close for comfort. We never see them sitting still.
Great shots.

robin andrea said...

BTW-- There is a new "carnival" for bird lovers. Thought you might be interested in submitting one of your bird posts. Check out:
http://www.10000birds.com/iandthebird.htm

Anonymous said...

that green tree frog is gorgeous! what a beauty!

Rurality said...

Thanks y'all.

Lorianne you've probably got the Gray Treefrog. We have those too! I think we are close to the northern limit in AL for the Green treefrog.

I can't believe I got so close to the leopard frog - I never have before. This pic was a telephoto. When I tried to get closer he did hop away.

RD I had seen that. I briefly thought about submitting my green heron pic/post, but then read the guidelines closer... I don't really consider myself in the "best of bird writing" category by any stretch of the imagination! I look forward to reading it though.

If anyone starts a wildflower carnival I might be able to join in there since I know a little about that. :)

Karen Schmautz said...

Again...gorgeous pictures.

Wildflower season just began here at Lake Tahoe. The lupine is everywhere. Big bonus...the lilacs are in bloom...I love lilacs.

Anonymous said...

Hick, you mean ceanothus-type lilacs, or the tame kind?

We just spent a few days up by you, camping at Yuba Pass. (Missed the earthquake; we were on the freeway and probably too far west to feel it. We heard about it when we stopped for lunch in Truckee.)

You said it: the wildflowers are happenin' up there! And the birds are showing up and singing too. I'm bloggin' about it the next few days, as soon as I get a deadline met.

Didn't see any frogs, tho' -- heard a bullfrog (dammit) and saw tadpoles that I think were yellow-leggeds.

Rurality said...

I love lilacs too. They just don't grow well here though. Too hot.

OK somebody needs to be posting some wildflower pics!

Karen Schmautz said...

Ron: They were tame. BTW...I visited your website and tried to post a comment, but something went haywire.

We have some of those weird looking red snow flowers popping out of our backyard that I am going to get a picture of today. I will try to post on my site later on.

Rurality said...

Hick I have trouble with Ron's comments sometimes too - you can't always see what you're writing, for some reason. But if I highlight the whole area with the cursor, I can then see it. (I thought it was just me!)

fred said...

I'll have to say, one of the things I miss most about the deep south is the frogs, toad, salamanders, and...dare I say it...the snakes.

Rurality said...

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on toads. :)

We've seen a lot more snakes than normal this summer. I think the rain has just been good for everything.