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Common Frog / rana temporaria. Attenborough, Nottinghamshire. 27/03/18.
'SINGING FOR A FEMALE'.
During spawning activity, male frogs croak to attract females and keep other males away from their chosen patch of water.
The latter reason never seems very effective whenever I've watched mass gatherings. Other males just pile in and even attempt to jump on a 'croaker'. (Interestingly, when this happens, the 'croaker' emits a slightly different sound to alert the male on top it has made a terrible mistake!)
The dynamics within a frenzied frog gathering can never be called boring!.
As it sends out a croaking call, a male frog inflates the vocal sacs on its throat. The action provides a very effective chamber which amplifies the sound of the air rushing across its vocal chords.
After several attempts, I managed to capture the male shown above with his vocal sacs inflated to full capacity. BEST VIEWED LARGE.
A close look at this eye candy reveals that this little lady is not a bullfrog, but a Green Frog (Rana clamitans), as the latter have two fleshy ridges running down their backs from roughly their eyes--these ridges are absent in bullfrogs. That's a good thing for local residents who don't want to get eaten, because these native frogs only grow to ~4", or about half the size of bullfrogs. How do we know this is a bit of lady eye candy? The tympanum--the ear disc behind the eye--is approximately the same size as the eye; in males, it is twice the size!
Freddy the Frog, as I called him, had a vey close shave with the lawnmower at the weekend!
Seeing him jump from just in front of the mower as I neared him, I managed to grab a couple of pics, before relocating the youngster in the neighbours garden by their pond complete with cascading pools and fountain!
I think he'll he happier there, certainly safer, have a great weekend Freddy.
golden frog
“ You’ve got to push yourself harder. You’ve got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You’ve got to take the tools you have and probe deeper. – William Albert Allard
A tiny little garden visitor. The wood frog may be reddish, tan or dark brown but always has a dark mask under and behind the eyes. Some individuals have a light line down the middle of the back. This species has a dark blotch on the chest near each front leg. The belly is white and may have some dark mottling. Adult wood frogs can grow to up to eight centimetres in length. The call of this species is a series of sharp quacks, almost like those of a duck. No other frog in Ontario has a dark mask like the wood frog’s. Although found on the tundra in the north and occasionally in grasslands in the west, the wood frog is most commonly associated with moist woodlands and vernal woodland pools. When inactive, this frog hides in logs, humus and leaf litter or under logs and rocks. It hibernates under logs or leaf litter on the forest floor.Wood frogs have an astonishing ability to tolerate freezing. They can survive the freezing of 60 to 70 percent of the water in their body and sustained temperatures of -6°C. Consequently, wood frogs are the earliest breeders in most of their range, often beginning to call in early spring when ice is still on the ponds they frequent. This species is known to travel several hundred metres between breeding ponds and non-breeding terrestrial habitat. The female lays up to 2,000 eggs in a mass that is attached to submerged vegetation in small, fishless ponds. Females will change breeding ponds, if necessary, to avoid those that contain predatory fish. Wood frogs are explosive breeders: in a population, the females lay most of the egg masses within a few days. The males are so anxious to breed they will grab on to almost anything, including a human finger, as if trying to mate a female. When a female arrives in the wetland, it is common for many males to try to mate with her simultaneously, forming what naturalists call a “mating ball,” which can contain more than 15 frogs! The egg masses are clustered together so that their combined dark coloration warms them and speeds hatching. The tadpoles transform after 44 to 85 days. Adult wood frogs become sexually mature in two to three years.
These frogs can also change colour rapidly from very dark to very light. This is not so much an adaptive attempt at camouflage as it is a means of controlling body temperature: wood frogs darken when cold in order to absorb more heat. Adults of this species eat various small, mostly terrestrial invertebrates. www.ontarionature.org/
wATER fROGS
Marsh, Edible and Pool frogs – These frogs have sharper snouts, no dark facial band, have paired vocal sacs
can be found in wet areas of lowland heathland.
Plastic looking Waxy Monkey Tree Frog. The waxy substance in their skin contains a natural opioid called dermorphin, which is a more powerful painkiller than morphine.
Frog Exhibition 2023, RBG.
This frog was on the road outside the house. How we missed her driving in I will never know. She was a good jumper and took three attempts but I eventually caught her and carried her away from the danger of vehicles to a safe, grassy mound en route to the pond. A smaller male will join and mount her and she will complete the journey carrying him "piggyback". He will fertilise her eggs as she releases them in the water.
Ócsa, Selyem-réti tanösvény
Első brekifotóm... Nem vagyok egy nagy természetfotós (az igazat megvallva, egyáltalán nem vagyok az), de egyszer azért ezt is ki kell próbálni...
Szeretettel ajánlom a képet Dorotheának, akinek csodás természetfotóin és makróin mindig ámulok. Itt a tenyerén - pontosabban az ujján - hordozta a békakirályfit, és közel emelte hozzám, hogy lefotózhassam. :)
Explore, July 21, 2009. #159.
Had a day at the Hunter Valley Botanical Gardens with good ole mate Archie McCafferty where today he was the spotter for these tiny little frogs soaking up a little light on these brightly green coloured leaves.
Astonishing how wildlife can respond to conditions. Less than 2 weeks ago we were under snow and the ponds were frozen. Within hours of the thaw it seems the frogs are laying spawn and the newts are eating it.