I hardly ever see frogs out in the swamps. Occasionally I hear a splash that seems like it could be a frog, but couldn’t swear to it.
Friday I saw two! This first one was perched on a tree stump.
And this fellow was all about the green: mustache, moss, and umbrella foliage.
Francis Beidler Forest, SC
April 14, 2023
I wasn’t sure… I’d photographed around this statue before, mostly flowers and insects…could I have missed a frog as part of the installation?
I walked around this little pond several times…
…the frog never moved. The frog was not there when I went back yesterday to see the azaleas, so he must have been the real deal.
With only a 100mm lens with me I couldn’t get far enough away to get an image of the whole pond.
Middleton Place, Charleston, SC
February 15, 2023
Fresh out of the water with a bit of duck weed attached this frog nestled into the pondside detritus.
Bulls Island is a 5000 acre barrier island off the coast of South Carolina with multiple ecosystems including maritime forest, fresh and brackish water impoundments and salt marsh.
April 2, 2022
I hear frogs croaking and splashing into the water ahead of me, but rarely see them around the swamp. This fellow caught my attention with a small croak, and then was perfectly still.
Sitting on a fallen Powdery Alligator-flag leaf, he blended into the wet leaves pretty well and it took me a minute to spot him.
It was his shape that caught my eye as I rounded a corner to a small pond. He sat perfectly still, until he was GONE!
A Tree Frog, almost hiding in plain sight.
The big leaf was bouncing in the breeze with the frog just enjoying the ride.
I haven’t seen many frogs around the various ponds I visit. Usually I just hear the splash as they disappear. I heard this one and his pals in a croaking chorus long before I got to the pond. I finally spotted him near the edge of the water. At least two others were answering in the deeper reeds.
He was huge! Bigger than my hand.
This is a bit further out in the pond, which is the same pond that the Barred Owls hunt around. The frogs might live longer if they didn’t announce themselves with such enthusiasm.
