Whenever I see a Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea), the frog appears to be sleeping. Why is that the case? Many frogs spend their time in the water and have an easy way to regulate their body temperatures. Tree Frogs probably need to avoid direct sunlight and I suspect they are more active earlier and later during the day.
I photographed these beautiful tree frogs on consecutive days last week during trips to different parts of Huntley Meadows Park. I love the simplified V-shaped tree crotch that makes a photogenic perch for the frog in the first photo. I am sure that I am imagining things, but the frog appears to be pensive or possibly daydreaming.
The previous day I was on the boardwalk with my friend Walter Sanford on the boardwalk when a passing woman with two young children, Dante and Aria, asked us if we wanted to see a tree frog. It had been a slow day for us photographically, so of course we said yes. The kids were really excited to talk with us and to show us their find.
Walter asked them to come up with a name for the frog and Aria chose the name “Sleepy.” Unlike the frog in the first photo that seemed semi-alert, the second frog seemed to be sound asleep, so the name certainly fit. Check out Walter’s posting on the encounter in his recent blog posting called “Sleepy” for more info and another photo of the sleeping tree frog.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Tree frog time of year 😂😂
Indeed it is, Ted. I have seen tree frogs on four separate occasions over the last couple of weeks. I remember as a child being in awe of National Geographic photos of tropical tree frogs with red eyes.
I know what you mean. At times I think of Marlin Perkins, Wild Kingdom, Sunday morning. LOL
I think we are demonstrating, Ted, that we are both of a certain generation (and of a certain age). 🙂
😂🤣😂
Nice Mike! Enjoyed seeing your Tree Frog images!
I don’t know about those, but I’d imagine the ones in our woods sleep during the day after keeping us awake at night. 🙂 Actually it is a joy to hear them.
Some species can have deafening choruses for sure.
The tucked in look of the limbs reminds me of Anne Geddes photos of sleeping babies. 🙂
I too love her photos of sleeping babies. I have often thought it would be cool to photograph babies like she does–I am less attracted to doing portraits of adults. 🙂
Hey! Marlin Perkins rocked! And tree frogs are unbelievably appealing. Cute, as a matter of fact.
Most frogs cannot be described as “cute,” but tree frogs are definitely a notable exception to that rule. “Cute” seems to come to everyone’s lips when they describe these little frogs.
It’s good to see tree frogs again. We usually come across a few when we can spend our usual time at the cabin, and I always greatly enjoy finding them. There are no tree frogs in New Zealand.
No tree frogs? I am sure that there are still plenty of other cool creatures there to keep you occupied. I have a gazillion United frequent flyer miles that I had hoped to be able to use for a trip to New Zealand, but the ways things are going, I won’t be flying anywhere for quite some time.
Oh, yes, cool creatures, we have them. One that I hope to find in the wild one day is this one: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161115-velvet-worm-hunts-at-night.
Tree frogs are really special and yes they do look a bit sleepy but so appealing!
I’ve been blessed to spot a few more tree frogs since I did that posting, so they may appear one more time in a posting, because I too consider them to be “really special.”
I want to see one in the flesh!! Sleepy is a great name.
They are very cool to spot. I have several by myself this year and several others were pointed out to me by people passing by.