Red-eyed Tree Frog on Heliconius Flower

I spent nine days photographing wildlife in Costa Rica. I returned today to freezing temperatures and freezing rain tonight. Even tougher, I return to Christmas season in full swing, with our office Christmas party today. There were a few wreaths and Christmas trees in Costa Rica, but they seemed out of place in the setting of banana trees and ninety degree heat and humidity somehow.

At home I go out and photograph wildlife in situ, wherever I find it. We did a fair share of that in Costa Rica, finding several sloths and howler monkeys, but we also did a lot of table top type set-ups and bird feeder photography, which is very new for me. It is hard to get a bison or grizzly to pose on a table top for you, but when you are dealing with small frogs and snakes, it is possible to transport them a short distance to a more convenient place for a photograph. That was usually a hastily set up branch or flower clamped to a table or tripod with a clamp (Wimberley Plamp).

This tree frog was an example. He lived within 100 feet of where we photographed him and was returned to his home leaf afterward. He didn’t seem terribly stressed. The hardest part was keeping him awake for the short session since he is nocturnal and just wanted to go back to sleep.

There are two strategies for the birds in the rain forest. They feed on whatever tree is in fruit at the moment so casting about looking for birds is hit and miss. The fruit trees don’t all ripen at the same time like they do in the temperate forest, they ripen randomly here and there all year round. We did find a couple of fruiting trees and that worked well for toucans and resplendent quetzals. More commonly, there were feeding stations set up to attract them and the birds were photographed while staging, awaiting their turn at the fruit. You could photograph them feeding if you really like pictures of bee-covered bananas and mangoes, I suppose.

Costa Rica was beautiful. The photography was difficult due to low light and flighty subjects. For the smaller critters like the tree frog a macro lens with a ring light was the best solution. In his session we found that adding a small battery-operated video light for a beauty light worked out nicely. You can see it reflected in his eye.

I didn’t take many landscapes and may need to go back and work on that at some other time because I would like the challenge of trying to reveal the essence of the rain forest on pixels. It would be very challenging due to the heavy contrast and the profusion of greenery. How to make order out of all of that chaos would be the challenge.  The focus of this trip was wildlife and I didn’t usually have the right lens with me for good landscapes. You tend to limit the load when it is ninety degrees and 100% humidity and every movement results in profuse sweating (and you never dry out in all that humidity). And you are already packing a 600 mm lens and D3 body and Wimberley head.

We were in Costa Rica at the end of the wet season and beginning of the dry season so it was very green, and wet. It showers every day for short periods. Using an umbrella seemed the best solution to rain. We went at this time, also, because the resplendent quetzals were in breeding plumage, a very spectacular site. I will post my photos of them in another post so stay tuned.

I understand patience is a virtue but so is assertiveness, and we must ask ourselves at what point do we stop waiting  for something to happen before we make our move?

Tonight as I was feeding crickets to my amphibians I watched their various feeding approaches.   While my prestigious and noble tree frogs patiently waited for the crickets to come to them (as any respectable noble would do), my fire belly toads immediately went for it…leaping for each cricket in sight without taking in account the odds of missing.  Needless to say, the fire bellies digested more than twice that of their imperial bunkmates.  My point? It may do us some good to reassess our approach to tackling life’s opportunities.  Certainly there are times when it is important to exercise the highly proclaimed virtue of patience but there are also times when it is in our best interest to dive in and go for it.

Case in point, I have often missed out on opportunities to experience something new when we go to New Mexico each winter (i.e., snow skiing, snowmobiling, sledding, and the list goes on) because I make excuses like, “the timing isn’t right” or “I’m not ready” or worse, “I’ll try it next year”.  But the FEAR of trying something new is why I missed out.  Plain and simple. 

So I ask, how many times do we mask our fears with the patience euphemism?  Afterall it is easier to say we are waiting for the right time instead of admitting we are scared.  But admission is the first step to overcoming, so maybe the next time we are faced with an opportunity to try something new, we should take a moment to make sure we are not hiding behind our own fear before saying no.

In the spirit of Carpe diem, here is a stimulating poem by Robert Herrick, a 17th century English poet who oddly enough lived to be 87.  And while the immortal bachelor could possibly be characterized as a masculist by warning all women to hurry up and marry before they are no longer in their prime, he makes a valid point that we should make use of our precious time before we are no longer (able).   Something we might take for granted in the spirit of living longer.

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of h

The higher he’s a-getting,

The sooner will his race be run,

And nearer he’s to setting.

hat age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may, go marry:

For having lost but once your prime,

You may for ever tarry.

You have those
legs and arms
that do that
Fingers that stick
Skin that stretches

Big eyes, markings
Vibrant colors
strobe blue
and red
attracting many

Always watching
sometimes distant
Sly smile
When you croak
it means something

Some of  you may know from my Facebook, but this weekend has been slightly odd. My friends Libby and Jessi came to visit and on Saturday morning we woke up to a tree frog in our place. Libby and I slept in the bed and Jessi slept on the couch. Libby said she saw something hop off and on the bed and I asked her are you sure it wasn’t like a cock roach, and she’s like no it had bent like legs and it looked kind of like a frog … well I guess maybe it was a grasshopper (mean while we are talking about this half asleep) Well then I’m laying there and I hear the bag of chips rumbling .. I said Jessi are you eating chips and right when I looked up to see the bag of chips the frog jumps on the pillow on our couch. This little sucker was all over our place and we didn’t even know it. Jessi said he heard her water bottle that was sitting on the floor get knocked over but she thought it was the dogs … so we start screaming all of us are jumping around trying to get this frog out of the house. We got a little bit of video of it Check it out, it’s pretty funny.

Not a very good surprise when your first waking up!

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“This is a good day for parliament, open justice and free reporting.” – Alan Rusbridger, Guardian editor

ah the most adorable thing!

This little baby tree frog was about the size of my thumbnail! He was so so so cute, I almost missed him but luckily I was out with my friend catching bugs and he pointed this little guy out. I like this one the best because he looks like he has a real expression on his face haha. I’ve always loved tree frogs!

Its inspiring to know that there are new species and lost worlds to be found and explored. World Wildlife Fund WWF just reported earlier today in Bangkok that 163 species of plants and animals were discovered last year in the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia where the Mekong River flows. Luckily politics were not involved. Some of these animals include:
Bird-eating fanged frog called the Khorat big-mouthed frog which is an opportunistic hunter found in streams

A beautiful tiger-striped pitviper (look at the eyes), this species is native to the Hon Son Island in Rach Gia Bay, southern Vietnam.

A new species of Leopard gecko (Goniurosaurus catbaensis), exclusively found in the Cat Ba Island national park in northern Vietnam.

A rough-coated tree frog (Philautus quyeti), discovered in the Truong Son mountain range in Vietnam.

Another creature that was recently discovered is the Bosavi woolly rat. It is a Giant rat that  when found had no fear of humans when it was discovered in a volcano crater in Papua New Guinea.

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Cryptic Camouflage by Color

Recently, I posted an article on Catocola Moths over at our other blog, Texas Travelers.
Click to see: Cryptic camouflage by pattern.

Martha and I were at the Nature Center Saturday and we made a point to find some Green Tree Frogs. They are easily overlooked unless you are specifically looking for them, and you are really paying attention.

Be sure to click on the photos to get a closer look !

Green Tree Frog in a Typical Marsh Habitat
Hyla cinerea
Photographed from the boardwalk

It’s the small yellow-green dot in the center of the photo, on the left side of the reed, and near the top of the reed.
They usually prefer to rest about half-way up on the stems.

Hyla cinerea

A little closer look
Camera: Canon G10, Macro Mode

The habitat of American green tree frogs is usually near lakes, farm ponds, floodplain sloughs, cattail or reed marshes, and bald cypress swamps. They inhabit the southeastern United States and some areas to the north and west, including all of Florida, southern Georgia, Louisiana, Delaware, eastern Maryland and Virginia, eastern North and South Carolina, eastern Texas, and areas extending along the Mississippi Valley to southern Illinois. They may possibly inhabit northeastern Mexico. They are also known to inhabit Vancouver Island in British Columbia in Canada.

This is a common backyard species that can often be seen at porch lights, where they may gather to look for insects to eat. During the day, the green tree frogs may be found resting on the plants beside the pond.

The Green Tree Frog song/call can be found by clicking here.
Did you listen to the song?
Have you heard it before?

Here is the link to other frog songs/calls. Click here.
What frogs do you have and where? State, city, habitat.
Do you have a favorite?
I grew up in East Texas listening to ‘Spring Peepers’.

Please,
Leave a comment or write a paragraph.
Martha and I would like to know.

There is also an excellent  ‘Article on Amphibians’ here.

Troy & Martha
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Tree Frog - in a nursery, Madipakkam, Chennai

I took this photo when we were looking for some interesting plant for my new house in Madipakkam, Chennai. After we selected some plants suddenly this little tree frog attracted my attention. Only the neck portion was out and remaining body was inside the leaf edges. If we distrub these kinds of frog it sprays some water which is allergic  to human.

In Stock Now!

Tree Frog Blazers, Janoskis, Bruins, Miss Piggy Dunk High, and Metallic Dunk Mid

Girl’s sizes too!

Here’s something I haven’t seen in a while.  A Gree Tree Frog.  There used to be lots of these hanging around last year but I haven’t seen hardly any at all this year.  Although these Frogs look rather cute, they are very loud!

Green Tree Frog

See Through Frog

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92687?fp=1

Everything is green. The yard is packed with baby grass, and the garden is growing fast.

If you read Things are a bit Spotty, you may recall that I was having a fungal issue with the tomatoes. I’m calling it Grey Leaf Spot until someone tells me otherwise. Last year this stuff completely ravaged my tomato plant to the point that I had very little yield.

Last week I treated the plant with Atomic Grow™ and trimmed off the terminal branches. I left a few of the branches with the initial stages of yellowing to see what would happen. One week later, the leaves are virtually unchanged and it appears that the fungal invasion has been stopped in its tracks. The new growth is green and healthy. I’m not going to go overboard with excitement, but things look promising!

I know I said I would make my next Atomic Grow™ application yesterday. I reserve the right to change my mind, and so I have declared Sundays to be “Atomic Sunday”. I will make the application this afternoon and post some quick photos. There are some new guests in the garden (one for which I have planted a specific herb), and I will not be spraying that plant because I want to encourage the guests. Sorry for the vagueness, but I think I’ll let you watch them progress and see who can guess what they are. Their momma dropped them off on Friday, so stay tuned for some baby pictures this afternoon.

Here is the Oasis this weekend. Doesn’t everything look happy?

A closer shot of some of the herbs. This is my first year with celery. I’m learning about self-blanching and how celery needs to be grouped together. I had thinned out the clump and moved some plants to outside areas. They are easily identified because they turned pale yellow. The central clump is still green. I guess we will wait and watch to see how they turn out.

The cherry tomato plant has officially reached tree status in my book. It is upwards of 5′ tall and growing by leaps and bounds. If it didn’t make those yummy tomatoes I’d think it were a weed.

Time for a salad.

The succulent garden is doing great. Notice that green grass in front?

Over the course of the week our banana flower has opened up and exposed the first hand of six bananas.

AJ explained to me that this is only the beginning. Each layer of the pod will open up in succession and reveal another hand. He estimates five or six more to come. This has been the highlight of my week.

The poblano peppers got off to a rocky start, but now they are loaded with babies.

Can I have more than one highlight? The Marketmore 76 cucumber has exploded in size.

And I found three new babies on a single branch. I’ve got to keep my eye out for those pickleworms. They are not allowed to eat our cucumbers.

The muskmelon took a beating from the winds this week. The older leaves are fairly shredded, but there is so much new growth that it hardly matters. This plant is loaded with babies.

Dead frog walking. Yes, here is another Cuban Tree Frog. This one has set up housekeeping inside one of the bamboo stakes. The stake has filled with water, thus forcing froggie to poke out of the top in the daylight. These are nocturnal frogs, so you can see its determination to stay home. I was able to get extremely close and the frog didn’t budge. I’m still building the fortitude to round up and kill these invasives. I even bought some Benzocaine to put them gently to sleep before popping them into the freezer. AJ is promoting the idea of just stomping on them. Is he mean or what? Actually, it would probably be the most humane way. I just don’t think I could do it.

For now I am building a collection of photographs for their memorial. Eat up little froggie; your days are numbered!

Mr. Fix It is still at it. This week the rains exposed another problem with the car: leaking tail lights, which allowed water to get into the trunk. AJ took them apart and found that they were both crazed and that one was cracked in various places. Here he is trying to salvage the blasted thing until we can afford a replacement part. Anybody want to buy a 1985 Mercedes 300D?

I’ll leave you with “Gravel Cat”, Jorgi.

Check back later for a harvest update and some shots of the baby guests.