Thursday, July 17, 2014

A Wood Frog, in the woods

A Wood Frog, Lithobates sylvatica, peeks from a leafy shelter in a Geauga County woodland. These small frogs are conspicuous in early spring, when mating orgies occur in vernal pools. The males belt out their ducklike quacks, which can be heard for considerable distances.

As spring progresses, and rolls into summer, the frogs become much less conspicuous. One occasionally encounters a Wood Frog by sheer happenstance, as we did in this case.

I dropped to the leaf litter, to see if the little frog would allow me better views, and photos. It did, and we can see the ornate detail that makes the Wood Frog one of our handsomest amphibians.

4 comments:

TheDon said...

Great photos as usual. I really enjoyed the butterfly workshop and the chance to meet you in person.

I have one more question I hope is appropriate in this space: You mentioned that you use a Nikon 105 mm macro lens and I'm wondering if you could give me more details, especially the "f" (f-stop?) of the lens?

Around 6 tonight I will make a decision on buying, used, either a "Sigma 105 mm f 2.8 DG AF Macro Lens for Nikon" or a "Nikon 105 mm, f 4, Ai Micro/Macro" lens--both at the same price.

Is f 2.8 better than f 4--if so, does that outweigh the benefits of a Nikon lens?

Thanks for everything,
Don

Jim McCormac said...

Hi Don, likewise, a pleasure meeting you. I shoot a Canon, but when I did have a Nikon D7000 I used the 100 mm macro lens (think it was a 2.8). Absolutely awesome and I highly recommend it! Can't vouch for the Tamron, as I've never used that, but you won't go wrong with the Nikon lens.

Jim McCormac said...

Hi Don, likewise, a pleasure meeting you. I shoot a Canon, but when I did have a Nikon D7000 I used the 100 mm macro lens (think it was a 2.8). Absolutely awesome and I highly recommend it! Can't vouch for the Tamron, as I've never used that, but you won't go wrong with the Nikon lens.

TheDon said...

Thank!

Don