Tree Frogs pick some risky places to hang out. This one was in plain sight and could easily be picked off by a clever bird.
However, there weren’t any birds about that I saw so his bigger risk might have been falling into the river.
From a different angle the frog looked like he had some more secure choices for his next leap.
I would never be surprised to find the Skinny Tree had succumbed to the elements and fallen into the pond. Happily, it made it through another wading bird nesting season, providing a start to one Great Blue Heron chick in the top nest and five or six Great Egret chicks in at least two nests lower down.
All sorts of birds will use the tree as a perch for the next several months for fleeting moments. Come December the cycle will start again again when the Great Blue Herons start staking out nest sites and hopefully this tree will be around to participate.
It appears that the duck box has no bottom, so any Wood Ducks looking for a nesting spot will have to find another location.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
July 23, 2021
I could have seen this coming, if I had known how tasty a closed hibiscus bud could be to a grasshopper.
I turned away for a few minutes after taking the photos in my post Green Grasshopper, Foreshadowing, with him on a leaf. and when my attention returned to him he had moved.
And found lunch.
The closed bud was pretty dense and he was working hard to gnaw the top off.
I didn’t know it at the time I, but this image foreshadowed the grasshopper’s intentions.
Hibiscus for lunch!
A backyard visitor, this green Grasshopper was lounging in the morning sun on a potted hibiscus.
The eyes are pretty interesting, especially looking at him head on.
Green on green, he’s got good camouflage on this leaf. I found out a bit later it wasn’t just the camo, or the leaf, he was interested in.
While I have seen Anoles eat insects bigger than their heads, a lot of what they consume is invisible to the human eye. Chewing is what gives it away.
Good for them eating no-see-ums on my patio!
They’ve got to do a lot of foraging to survive.
While the Tiny Tree Frog was sitting on a Curcumin leaf this also very small Carolina Anole was on patrol.
He was more adventurous than the frog, and was actively seeking food.
He covered a lot of territory, up and down and spent some time just hanging out.
This is the smallest Tree Frog I’ve ever seen, no bigger than my pinky fingernail. I’m calling him a juvenile, but have no idea how old he might be, or how he came to be on our patio.
Ted spotted him first, and thought it was the head of a juvenile Carolina Anole peaking up over the leaf.
There was a young Anole patrolling this Curcumin plant and the frog soon disappeared into the dense middle and I wondered if they were aware of each other.
Another capture from the backyard with the 180mm prime lens, a Carolina Anole perched on a weather worn thermometer.
