In the Muck and on the Porch

Running low on time tonight but thought I’d throw a post out there while watching the Cardinals battle it out with the Reds.  Worried it was going to be a short night, but the Cards covered the 4-0 lead they handed the Reds at the start of the game.. now just down one!!  Since birds tend to take an extra amount of time due to all the associated research figured it would be prudent to just go with your regular standard green …

Bullfrog.  Now when you see me taking pictures of bullfrogs you can quickly come to the conclusion there was nothing else even remotely interesting to photograph in the area.  First I look for birds, then larger animals followed by dragonflies and then.. well those muck loving amphibians.. oops, forgot spiders and slugs – definitely spiders then slugs THEN those mucky amphibians.   Not so much that I don’t like these particular creatures, but where they tend to hang out is usually loaded with those blood sucking mosquitoes.  I do HATE mosquitoes and with two hands on a camera I cannot properly defend myself from their onslaught.  UPDATE – Cards now up by 2!.  Pretty sure the above frog was taken at the Jubilee College State Park pond.  All in all pretty pleased on how that particular shot came out – the frog was pretty clean in contrast to the muck it was lounging in and those eyes came out nice and sharp…. the following shot took a darker feel.

Probably could have lightened it up a little bit more but was going for the more “lurker” approach.  The darker coloring gave the impression it was more concealed in the surroundings just waiting for the next victim to wade by.  This shot was actually taken up by Kewanee IL. in a park just north of the city.  We were taking pictures of a Great Blue Heron and two Swans most of the time we were there.  At one point looked down and saw those two eyes break through the water so took a few minutes to get it in the tin.  Some interesting tidbits about Kewanee for those that are not aware of it (as in live North of I-80 and East of I-39 and don’t believe there is anything worth visiting outside of Chicago).  Kewanee is considered the Hog Capital of the World due to being the top hog producing county in 1949. The name itself is the Ho-Chunk (note, a Native American tribe, not a group of fat prostitutes) word for Prairie Chicken.  It is also the home of Mary… everyone knows Mary so no need to go into detail there.

Hit the jump to see one of their relatives.

Let’s contrast that with these mini versions..

These frogs are just plain cute and fortunately, prefer the vegetation on our porch to the nasty ponds.  They are also pretty docile and willing to just sit there while I take picture after picture from different angles and settings.  Now, since a kid I’ve always called these Tree Frogs.  Not sure if this is universally true since the Google searches I did only came up with the more smooth skinned variety.  I did find a few references to Green Frog, but I always called the giant smooth green frogs by that name.  Doesn’t really matter much.. their just plain cute.

Those toe suckers are impressive.  I’ll come home and see them hanging upside down on the siding, looking out from under our grill or as you see here, stuck to the foliage.  Is there anything they can’t stick to?  For about the last two years, these little green frogs and their relatives the toads have been spawning like crazy around our neck of the woods.  Not sure if it has being dryer than normal at times and they are coming up from the stream in our backyard or we slept through a plague.  Due to my golden rule of not killing babies and in general being respective of wildlife (with the exception of moles of course), I have to take special care now while cutting our lawn with the riding mower.  Need to keep one eye forward to keep from hitting a tree and the other towards the ground in an attempt to keep these hoppers from under the mower deck.

I can’t bring myself to shred something as cute as that!  If god is a frog I have that at least going for me!    Eventually I turned off the porch light and let the dude (or possibly dudette) get on with their nightly business.  Just for the record, this last shot is my favorite of the bunch.  The first one is a close second but would have had a better impact if it had been turned a little more towards the camera.

Let’s give a shout out to the Cards for pulling off the WIN!

See you again real soon.