Nature Photography (Formally Spring is in the Air)

[btb300]

  It's more like "Summer is in the Air" here in the south of Germany. Very hot again this year - which I like a lot .
  During the last weeks, when visiting my favourite local lake, I have been wondering where these giant tadpoles came from.
  I have never seen such ones before here. Now I think I found the reason.
  A few days ago I saw this cute fella just a few meters from where I sat down and took the camera out.

Nice to see the thread pick up with some nice new living animals. I thought the interest had waned after my last post. I doubt I will post again though too much work, and mostly shots of the same types of animals anyway (on my part).

Now that is a pretty frog. I did some searching and my guess is Pelophylax ridibundus or Marsh Frog am I correct or is it a hybrid? The pattern seems to match P. ridibundus but your colours are so much more vibrant than any examples I could find online.

There is a very high chance of hybridisation for this species, but I think it is really difficult to tell the difference. Anyway I sent the last photo to my frog nut friend, he knows these pretty well. I wonder what he will say though. Usually you would need to measure the length of the legs in relation to the body or something like that. And the bounadries of a species are such blurry lines anyway. Just like in paleontology

[Doug Watson]

Great photos, sure it was a nice hunt with the camera.  I got a bit more closer during the weekend, and actually caught some frogs to show my daughter, who had a keen interest in them They were mostly very small though, often just the size of a fingernail.

Isn't it great sharing nature with your child I did the same with my daughter growing up now she is off on her own but still appreciates nature and loves to visit zoos to this day. I did fail at passing on my love for snakes. I would catch a snake and get her to touch it but it never progressed past that, same with her mother (actually she won't even touch it). Mind you I took my daughter to a Reptile Zoo when she was young and she let them drape a 6 foot Red Tailed Boa on her. I asked her why she wouldn't hold a 3 foot Garter Snake that I caught. She said "your's wasn't tame"
Enjoy your time with your little girl, I cherish my memories of mine discovering nature.

Yes, even the many shots that came up for Pelophylax ridibundus varied greatly but was the closest I could find.

[postsaurischian]

Now that is a pretty frog. I did some searching and my guess is Pelophylax ridibundus or Marsh Frog am I correct or is it a hybrid? The pattern seems to match P. ridibundus but your colours are so much more vibrant than any examples I could find online.

I'd say that's a good guess. In German it's Seefrosch which means Lake Frog. It indeed lives in a lake. It was about 12 cm long and the second pic from above on the German Wikipedia page comes pretty close: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seefrosch
It's a younger female. Only the females grow from 10 - 16 cm.

[Lanthanotus]

Nice photos indeed , wouldn't be to sure about the P. ridibundus as in fact the "green frogs/water frogs" (non taxonomic group, semiaquatic Ranidae) are somewhat of a taxonomic mess (or mystery, whatever you like more). The species of this complex are closely related and can hybridize with each other and the intermediate "species" esculenta/esculentus can lean to one or the other species in its appearance and so sometimes also grows very tall. Overall the variety of shades and patterns is very great, adding to the problem of identification.

The frog in btb300's picture looks like a "brown frog" (holarctic Ranidae) to me, probably Rana temporaria, hard to tell from the photo though. At least in our region (Hessen) the summer so far was comparably cool and rainy, so most frogs/toads just ended their metamorphosis right now resulting in the so called "frog rain" when thousands of - mainly - B. bufo and R. temporaria go to land within a few days.

Btw,... about the tadpoles.... how big where they? While the Seefrosch has comparably big tadpoles, the ones of Pelobates fuscus can grow even bigger (up to like 17 cm). Depending on the surrounding environment, you may have found such?

[btb300]

Great photos, sure it was a nice hunt with the camera.  I got a bit more closer during the weekend, and actually caught some frogs to show my daughter, who had a keen interest in them They were mostly very small though, often just the size of a fingernail.

Isn't it great sharing nature with your child I did the same with my daughter growing up now she is off on her own but still appreciates nature and loves to visit zoos to this day. I did fail at passing on my love for snakes. I would catch a snake and get her to touch it but it never progressed past that, same with her mother (actually she won't even touch it). Mind you I took my daughter to a Reptile Zoo when she was young and she let them drape a 6 foot Red Tailed Boa on her. I asked her why she wouldn't hold a 3 foot Garter Snake that I caught. She said "your's wasn't tame"
Enjoy your time with your little girl, I cherish my memories of mine discovering nature.

Yes, even the many shots that came up for Pelophylax ridibundus varied greatly but was the closest I could find.

I couldn't agree more with you on this. It is really a wonderful experience and I just hope I will be able to hold on to all of the memories. I know she probably won't remember these things but I beleive that they will leave a mark and probably help her to become a person connected to nature in a way it's meant to be (that being quite difficult in the era we live in).

Nice photos indeed , wouldn't be to sure about the P. ridibundus as in fact the "green frogs/water frogs" (non taxonomic group, semiaquatic Ranidae) are somewhat of a taxonomic mess (or mystery, whatever you like more). The species of this complex are closely related and can hybridize with each other and the intermediate "species" esculenta/esculentus can lean to one or the other species in its appearance and so sometimes also grows very tall. Overall the variety of shades and patterns is very great, adding to the problem of identification.

The frog in btb300's picture looks like a "brown frog" (holarctic Ranidae) to me, probably Rana temporaria, hard to tell from the photo though. At least in our region (Hessen) the summer so far was comparably cool and rainy, so most frogs/toads just ended their metamorphosis right now resulting in the so called "frog rain" when thousands of - mainly - B. bufo and R. temporaria go to land within a few days.

Btw,... about the tadpoles.... how big where they? While the Seefrosch has comparably big tadpoles, the ones of Pelobates fuscus can grow even bigger (up to like 17 cm). Depending on the surrounding environment, you may have found such?

As my friend put it it is the complete failure of the morphometric morphological keys. His first question was if a finger had been cut from the animal for identification The one on my photo is probably Rana temporaria, especially considering that in Ireland there isn't much else (at least not natively).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amphibians_of_Ireland

Those tadpoles mut be enormous, I haven't had the fortune of coming across them yet, but I will definitely look for them once I'm back in my home country.

[Doug Watson]

After a little over 24 years canoeing and kayaking in southern Ontario I have seen my second new species of snake. My last new species back around 24 years ago was the Grey Rat Snake. This weekend I spotted the beautiful Northern Ribbon Snake. Our Eastern Garter Snake is Black with Yellow Stripes, the Ribbon Snake has yellow stripes on a black background as well but has a brown head with a white chin, a white crescent shape in front of the eyes and a orange stripe down the lower half of the body. Very pretty. This one was on a dead tree hanging over the lake. Because of branches on either side I couldn't get close enough to catch it so I had to be satisfied with seeing it and taking some pictures. This one is pretty much fully grown at just over 2 feet long. Always thrilling to see a new species.


Close up of the Northern Ribbon Snake showing the white crescent shape in front of the eye.


Also saw a few Northern Water Snakes including this one that had just eaten something.


Close-up of the same Northern Water Snake.


This Red Squirrel was having a great time eating Cedar seeds.

[Gwangi]

Congrats on the ribbon snake! They're fast little buggers. I've seen a few of them but I've never actually caught one.

[CarnegieCollector]

There is a whole bunch of blue tailed skinks running all over around this time of year. They are fun to watch 

[Halichoeres]

Yay, new shots! Always nice to add a new species to the list.

[Jose S.M.]

Very nice pictures,  I love snakes!

[Doug Watson]

There is a whole bunch of blue tailed skinks running all over around this time of year. They are fun to watch 

Where abouts are you? I used to see lots of Skinks when I would go to South Carolina. Lately when I travel to Florida all I am seeing is Anoles. I wish we had skinks up here but the only lizards in Canada are near the US border.
Edit: I stand corrected, I just checked the latest range map on Ontarionature.org and they have sightings of Five-Lined Skinks up as far as where we go kayaking half way from home to the border. I certainly have never seen any. I will be on the lookout now!

[CarnegieCollector]

There is a whole bunch of blue tailed skinks running all over around this time of year. They are fun to watch 

Where abouts are you? I used to see lots of Skinks when I would go to South Carolina. Lately when I travel to Florida all I am seeing is Anoles. I wish we had skinks up here but the only lizards in Canada are near the US border.
Edit: I stand corrected, I just checked the latest range map on Ontarionature.org and they have sightings of Five-Lined Skinks up as far as where we go kayaking half way from home to the border. I certainly have never seen any. I will be on the lookout now!

I'm in Southern California. I didn't know 5-lined skinks lived in Canada. Definatly keep your eyes open for them! I once saw one while fishing that was about 6 inches long. Skinks and western fence lizards are everywhere around here! I used to have an anole. His name was Amos. I love skinks. I used to have a blue-tongued skink named skink-Zilla.   

[Doug Watson]

I'm in Southern California. I didn't know 5-lined skinks lived in Canada. Definatly keep your eyes open for them! I once saw one while fishing that was about 6 inches long. Skinks and western fence lizards are everywhere around here! I used to have an anole. His name was Amos. I love skinks. I used to have a blue-tongued skink named skink-Zilla.   

Skink-zilla! LOL I have been to California, Arizona and Nevada several times. Usually we are in places like Disneyland, Long Beach Aquarium or San Diego Zoo etc so I haven't seen as many wild reptiles as I would have liked. The last couple times my wife and I have done some hiking in the desert so I did see a Desert Spiny Lizard in the Mojave and I think a Side Blotched Lizard in the Valley of Fire. I have been hoping to see a Rattlesnake but no such luck yet. Sometimes it is the weather, the day we went to the Grand Canyon it was only 45 fahrenheit. I would love to see one of your California Red-Sided Garter Snakes.

[CarnegieCollector]

I'm in Southern California. I didn't know 5-lined skinks lived in Canada. Definatly keep your eyes open for them! I once saw one while fishing that was about 6 inches long. Skinks and western fence lizards are everywhere around here! I used to have an anole. His name was Amos. I love skinks. I used to have a blue-tongued skink named skink-Zilla.   

Skink-zilla! LOL I have been to California, Arizona and Nevada several times. Usually we are in places like Disneyland, Long Beach Aquarium or San Diego Zoo etc so I haven't seen as many wild reptiles as I would have liked. The last couple times my wife and I have done some hiking in the desert so I did see a Desert Spiny Lizard in the Mojave and I think a Side Blotched Lizard in the Valley of Fire. I have been hoping to see a Rattlesnake but no such luck yet. Sometimes it is the weather, the day we went to the Grand Canyon it was only 45 fahrenheit. I would love to see one of your California Red-Sided Garter Snakes.

the only rattlesnake Iv ever seen was in Oregon. It was swimming across a lake and scared a bunch of people ( it was the 4th of July ). I have yet to see a wild California red-sided Garter.  The only one Iv seen was a pet one my neighbors had. It sure was a pretty snake! Desert spiny lizards are cool, but if never seen one in person. Apparently Jacksons chameleons live in some parts in California. Iv never seen one though. They are like mini-triceratops! 

I would never have guessed the Grand Canyon would ever get that cold! Iv never gotten to go there. It sounds cool though! I want to go to Florida just to see the Gators there. That would be awesome!

[Newt]

Nice pics as always, Doug!

If you ever get the chance, pack up your boats and come down to Reelfoot Lake, in the northwestern corner of Tennessee. You'd have a blast. Not one but four kinds of map turtles (and ten other turtle species), five species of watersnakes, two ribbonsnakes, four treefrogs, four pitvipers (including plenty of cottonmouths), mudsnakes, sirens and amphiumas...plus lots of other cool critters. Not to mention all the great southern swamp flora! Baldcypress, tupelo, lotus, spatterdock, all the good stuff.

[Doug Watson]

Nice pics as always, Doug!

If you ever get the chance, pack up your boats and come down to Reelfoot Lake, in the northwestern corner of Tennessee. You'd have a blast. Not one but four kinds of map turtles (and ten other turtle species), five species of watersnakes, two ribbonsnakes, four treefrogs, four pitvipers (including plenty of cottonmouths), mudsnakes, sirens and amphiumas...plus lots of other cool critters. Not to mention all the great southern swamp flora! Baldcypress, tupelo, lotus, spatterdock, all the good stuff.

Believe me, I would love to. I should have taken advantage when my brother was living near Memphis, now he has moved back to Cincinnati. Its a little hard to sell my wife on a snake hunting holiday, maybe she will get a conference in Tennessee before she retires. I was a little disappointed in the Wekiwa Springs State Park interpreter in Florida back in 2015 that was handling the Pine Snake and Corn Snake that I held when I asked him if he ever saw any Mud Snakes. He didn't know what it was and told me he probably knew it by a different name, yah right. I am guessing he rarely strayed far from the bikini clad visitors. I would love to see one in the wild the colours look amazing.

[Doug Watson]

Wow, nobody has added anything since I was last here.
No photos to add but for the second time this summer I have added a new local species for my lifetime list. A Musk Turtle also known as the Stinkpot Turtle Sternotherus odoratus. It was sitting on top of a basking Map Turtle. I was so mesmerised by it I forgot to take a picture before it plopped into the water. I reported it to the Conservation Officer and it was the first reported sighting that they know of but confirmed their suspicions that they were in Hogg Bay. They already knew they were in nearby Loon Lake.

[Halichoeres]

Wow, nobody has added anything since I was last here.
No photos to add but for the second time this summer I have added a new local species for my lifetime list. A Musk Turtle also known as the Stinkpot Turtle Sternotherus odoratus. It was sitting on top of a basking Map Turtle. I was so mesmerised by it I forgot to take a picture before it plopped into the water. I reported it to the Conservation Officer and it was the first reported sighting that they know of but confirmed their suspicions that they were in Hogg Bay. They already knew they were in nearby Loon Lake.

Awesome! Citizen science!

[Gwangi]

That is really cool, congrats on your find Doug. "To find new things take the path you took yesterday" applies well to this.

Eventually I really need to post some pictures. It's been a great year snake hunting for me and I have a lot of share from my recent vacation in Maryland.

[Doug Watson]

That is really cool, congrats on your find Doug. "To find new things take the path you took yesterday" applies well to this.

Eventually I really need to post some pictures. It's been a great year snake hunting for me and I have a lot of share from my recent vacation in Maryland.

Please do ! Please do! I'd love to see what you came up with.

In an effort to inspire you this is what happened to me this past July 17. My first bite by a Grey Rat Snake! I was driving out of the park and I saw a teenager stopping traffic for a 5 foot Grey Rat Snake. I stopped to help and once the snake was safely in the bush I of course couldn't help myself and picked it up. All would have been okay except the teen was still there as well as some others who stopped and they were all asking me questions. While I was reaching with my free hand for my camera and looking at the bystanders asking questions the sly rascal tagged me on my free wrist. My fault for not paying attention to the task at hand. I sternly told it to let go and eventually it did. After a few more attempted bites it calmed down like it would have if I had paid better attention. I was actually really stoked because this was the biggest snake I had ever been bit by and it did a good job, lots of painless blood. I showed the bite to my wife with pride, she thought I was an idiot (still does for that matter).

The snake before I picked it up. I think it really felt threatened because besides me there were three other large beings hovering around it.


After the snake had calmed down.


The bite after the bleeding stopped. Two overlapping bites.