green frog looks like . . .

. . .  like a rubber toy in rocks near the pond.  But it sounds exactly like a frog!

The Green Frog is widely present in the eastern half of Minnesota.  

Typically greenish-brown on top, and males have yellow throats.

leopard frog

Leopard Frogs Lithobates pipiens  who live in our pond may travel one or two miles from water in the summer.  You might hear them make a long, deep 'snore' noise lasting several seconds ending with a chuck-chuck-chuck.  In the fall, Leopard Frogs come back to their pond.  We saw this one hopping across the sandy shore.  They spend the cold winter in the water, burrowed into the mud, hibernating with their metabolism slowed.

green frogs on rocks

Usually, the frogs who live here sit on shore hiding among grasses looking for prey insects or invertebrates.

But when a rock is available, Green Frogs Rana clamitans prefer to sit in the sun and wait for a meal to present itself.  

frog on echinacea

This Gray Treefrog Hyla versicolor can change colors.  Part of its Latin name is versicolor, meaning 'to turn color'.  Any treefrog can appear as a mottled grayish green or solid green or gray or creamy white color, depending on where it is and whether it needs to be camouflaged.  Today, this one was looking among the leaves and flowers of Echinacea for insects to eat.  He was trying to hide by being green as the leaves of this plant.

Rather than chase their prey, Gray Treefrogs sit and eat whatever comes by.  They live and reproduce in ponds; they often sit in residential areas where it feeds on flying bugs or insects that are attracted to landscape lights.

pond morning sounds

Mornings near the pond are so peaceful, with the birds singing and the breeze rustling through the grasses and reeds. 

Then you notice the bullfrogs calling. It is said they can be heard up to a quarter mile away.  They are vociferous from early June through July.

green heron - frog for lunch

Green Heron tried to lure fish by picking up floating bits of vegetation and throwing them out on the water.  This bird is able to use tools for fishing!  But after a while with no success, he went to the rocky shore and watched for movement of something else.  When a frog revealed its presence, the Heron grabbed it for lunch.  We witnessed the frog kicking for a minute, then the Heron stretched his neck longer to swallow it completely.

green heron hunting

Green Herons look small and stocky (pictured here), until one is hunting for a meal on the shore of the pond.  Then they stretch their neck full length  to reach the prey.

They hang out in small freshwater wetlands near ponds and streams lined with thick vegetation.  All the better to hide in while hunting. 

Herons are opportunistic feeders . . .  they'll eat fish or whatever they find along the shore . . . aquatic insects, frogs, grasshoppers, snakes, or small rodents.

A Green Heron Butorides virescens is one of the few birds that actually uses tools.  They will try a variety of baits and lures, including leaves, insects, earthworms, twigs, or feathers . . .  dropping the item onto the surface of the water and grabbing the small fish that comes up.

We saw this one pick up floating bits and fling them back on to the water surface.

frog

The sun was low in the west behind us.  

We thought it was a yellow flower floating in the middle of the pond. 

Then, it seemed to be a toy yellow frog. 

Really yellow. 

Someone's joke.

Binoculars, to get a better look.  Bullfrog!

high water

This morning, after
7 inches of rain fell overnight, the pond is higher than usual and some of the shoreline around it is under water.  The critters are trying to find their favorite places to feed or soak up the sun.


I was watching a turtle crawl slowly up on a small rise among the grasses.


Then a frog croaked, and I noticed him right near the turtle.  We've been hearing these Green Frogs
Rana (Aquarana) clamitans
for several weeks.  They are usually secretive; this is first time I've seen one here.  Do you see him in the photo below?

creatures in the rain barrel

 

Deep in the nearly-empty rain barrel, a Gray Treefrog Hyla versicolor clings with its suction-cup feet.  Tree frogs can climb most surfaces with ease -- even this slick dark wall -- because each pad on each foot allows strong close mucous-enhanced contact. 

Outside the rain barrel, a Northern Walkingstick Diapheromera femorata clings to the outer edge on a surface of the same material.
Walkingsticks are leaf skeletonisers, eating the tissues between the leaf veins, pausing for a while and then walking on to new leaves.

Posing on a green leaf, the Walkingstick shows off its twig disguise and demonstrates how its front legs are attached just behind its eyes.  Usually, these two front appendages are held straight out along the antennae.