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Posts Tagged ‘frog’

Whimsical fall frog

Posted in Humor, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 16, 2012| 9 Comments »

I have a confession to make—I really like to photograph little green frogs. Maybe it’s the influence of Kermit the Frog on my perceptions, but, whatever the reason, there seems to be something whimsical about frogs. Like this little frog that I photographed yesterday, they appear to have a perpetual half-smile, as though they find this world to be unceasingly amusing.

It brings to mind one of my favorite movies scenes, the opening sequence of The Muppet Movie, in which the camera gradually zooms in on Kermit, sitting on a log in the swamp and playing the banjo. The words of the song he is singing express the kind of eternal optimism to which I aspire, “Someday we’ll find it, the Rainbow Connection, the lovers, the dreamers and me.” (Here’s a link to the video of that scene on YouTube—I highly recommend that you take a couple of moments to relax with it, especially if you’ve never seen it before.) With all of the cares of everyday life, it’s hard to be a dreamer, it’s tough to see hope in rainbows, it’s not easy to see whimsey in frogs. It’s my hope, though, that we all can maintain (or rediscover) that child-like optimism about our world.

Fall frog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hapless frog

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 21, 2012| 5 Comments »

Walking along a boardwalk in the center of a marsh, I suddenly heard a sound that I had never heard before, a strange and eerie squeak. I had no idea of the source of the sound, but a man who was walking by with his family pointed it out to me. It was a frog that had been captured by a snake and was slowly being swallowed whole.

I leaned over the edge of the boardwalk and tried to take some shots of this terrifying spectacle, but there was too much grass between me and the two protagonists in this drama for me to get a really clear shot. The shot below shows the snake working to get past the frog’s hind legs. As you can see, the snake is swallowing the frog beginning with the legs. In a previous post, I showed a green heron swallowing a frog. The heron slid the frog down his throat in a single gulp beginning with the head. The process with the snake was more protracted and therefore more gruesome.

Eventually it was over. I continued on with my day, feeling a mixture of awe and horror for what I had just witnessed.

Frog being swallowed by a snake (click for higher resolution)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bullfrog with bubble

Posted in Humor, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This morning I captured this photo of a bullfrog. I was able—with gyrations that would have been hilarious to a spectator—to get almost low enough to look him eye-to-eye. I was happy also to get a reflection of the frog with a considerable amount of detail. As I was reviewing the images on my computer, I noticed the bubbles under his chin (do frogs have chins?), a delightful detail that adds a sense of whimsy to the frog. Blowing bubbles is something that I always associate with being a child, and I remember how much fun it was to blow bubbles in my drink with a straw or to blow soap bubbles with one of those little wands.

Perhaps this bullfrog was blowing bubbles in the water, remembering too when he was little, presumably in a post-tadpole phase.

Bullfrog with bubble (click for higher resolution)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Frog hiding in duckweed

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on August 18, 2012| 9 Comments »

Yesterday I was at a nearby pond photographing mostly dragonflies. After shooting them I decided to make a quick walk around the pond (it’s only a small man-made pond) to see what other subjects I could find. I managed to find a colorful butterfly, a small green heron, and some lotus flowers that I will post later, assuming the photos came out ok.

The subject that really caught my attention, though, was a frog. Really? Yes, really.

I was leaning over the green-colored pond water, gazing at a distant dragonfly when I happened to glance down to my right. There, almost camouflaged in what my friends say is duckweed, was a semi-submerged frog. I was able to get my camera’s lens down pretty low and got in close and captured an image I really like. The frog’s gold-ringed eyes shine out clearly amidst all of the individual particles of duckweed that cover much of his expressionless face.

There are a couple of blades of grass that were partially blocking my view to the frog but they blurred out and are not really much of a problem.  After I took some shots, though, I decided to try to carefully remove one of those offending blades. As I made the effort,  the frog, who had remained motionless up to then, literally leaped into action. He sprung powerfully into the air and skipped across the surface of the water, like a rock throw by a dad showing his son how to skip rocks.

I was so startled by his sudden motion that I almost fell over into the water. Later in the day I did end up getting wet when I belatedly noticed that one foot was planted in the water while I was intently focusing on composing a shot. I guess that’s the price of being a photographer.

Hiding frog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Portrait of a Young Green Heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on July 24, 2012| 4 Comments »

Yesterday’s blog entry featured the adventures of a young green heron catching and swallowing a frog. After the snack was consumed, though, the heron moved from the boardwalk into the marshy area. There he perched on a branch and seemed to pose for me, maybe figuring that his exploits were worthy of a magazine feature.

The resulting photograph is one of my favorite shots of the whole day, because I think it captures well the rugged beauty of this young bird. The background is a little distracting but I like the reflections in the water and the angle of the ranch.

I decided to include two additional action shots from yesterday. The photos seem to show that I probably was incorrect when I stated that the heron had speared the frog when he initially caught it. It looks like the heron was merely holding the frog with his beak as he adjusted its position. Now that I think about it, the process of swallowing the frog would have been complicated if the frog had been speared.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Not Seeing Eye to Eye

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 24, 2012| 21 Comments »

One can only imagine what is going through the frog’s mind as he looks into the crazed eyes of the green heron who has just speared him. Is he looking for mercy? Is he resigned to his fate?

I watched the prelude to this moment unfold this afternoon at Huntley Meadows Park, a marshland park here in Virginia. The green heron was intently scanning the water from the edge of a boardwalk that runs through the march. Periodically he would extend his neck down toward the water.

Several times we heard an excited “eeep” sound followed by a splash, indicating another frog had escaped. After a few more minutes, however, the heron dived into the water and reappeared on the boardwalk with the speared frog you see in the first photo.

When you look at the comparative size of the heron’s mouth and the frog, it hardly seems possible that the green heron could swallow the entire frog. The heron took his time shifting the position of the frog and then all at once he turned his head, bent his neck back a little, and down went the frog. It happened so quickly that I was able to snap only a single photo that shows the frog’s webbed feet as the only remaining parts that have not yet been swallowed.

In this final photo the heron no longer has a slim neck. I have no idea how long it will take for the frog to reach the heron’s stomach but I am pretty sure he was not yet there when I took this photo.

And don’t try to talk with the heron during this period. Why not? Read the caption of the last photo!

I can’t talk now. I have a frog in my throat.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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