Blanchard's Cricket Frog

 

As always, click the image to enlarge

Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi) can be tough to see. This is Ohio's smallest frog, measuring a wee 0.6 inches in length and weighing but a gram. They are also cryptically patterned and blend well with their surroundings. While exploring an Adams County (Ohio) prairie last Saturday, August 31, we saw dozens of them around a small pond. The section of muddy shoreline that we explored had many dozens of frogs. The elfins make one work for a good photo, I can tell you that.

These tiny frogs, which inhabit small ponds and stream corridors, are easy to miss if one is not attuned to them. Cricket frogs are most conspicuous in late spring/early summer, when males begin to vocalize. They create a series of surprisingly loud, metallic clicks that are quite un-frog-like. But the vocalizing doesn't last all that long and by now the cricket frogs have fallen silent. The little pond where I made this image probably hosts thousands of individuals, at least at this season. The adult's ranks are supplemented with scores of juveniles, but many/most of those probably won't make it till winter. Lots of potential predators, especially for such a small amphibian. The cricket frog lifespan, if all goes well, is said to only be a year.

PHOTO NOTES: I made this image with my workhouse Canon 100mm f/2.8L macro lens, with the Canon R5 and auxiliary light courtesy of the 600 EX II speedlite. Settings were f/14, ISO 400, and 1/200 second. Camera settings are the least of the cricket frog photographer's issues. As you can surmise from the photo, the tiny frogs blend extraordinarily well with their substrates. That coupled with their small size makes them incredibly easy to overlook. Also, when alarmed, they can leap fantastic distances. No frog that I have firsthand familiarity with leaps as far as a cricket frog in a single bound. We figured they were catapulting themselves some 30x the length of their bodies, maybe more.

The trick is to find a possible subject, slowly ease closer, then slowly drop to the mire and ever so gently worm your way towards the frog. Done with delicacy, one can get quite close - I was probably only a few feet from the animal in the photo. It's best, in my opinion, to have your camera on the ground. Eye level is usually best with small ground-bound organisms.

Blanchard's Cricket Frog

A tiny Blanchard's cricket frog, Acris crepitans blanchardi, in a rare state of repose. Last Saturday, I was down in Warren County in southwestern Ohio to speak at the 101 Alternatives to the Chalkboard Educator's Conference. This long-running event has been held at the YMCA's Camp Kern for nearly 30 years, and it was a privilege to be a part of it.

Camp Kern sprawls over 485 acres, and the habitats are varied and rich in flora and fauna. In between talks, we found time for a bit of exploring, and our course took us by a large pond. Ambling along the pond's margins, I noticed several miniature frogs leaping from our path with the agility of leopard frogs. Cricket frogs! I alerted my fellow explorers and we launched into the hunt, determined to net one for closer viewing.

When flushed, Blanchard's cricket frogs usually make for the water, pronto. Once there, though, they often quickly surface and stare back at the offender as this one is doing. With a little quick net work, it wasn't long before we had bagged one for inspection.

Possibly a face only a mother, or herpetologist, could love but I find that these wee amphibians have their charms. One might be forgiven for thinking them to be "baby" toads, as warty as they are. Small they are, too: an adult cricket frog might only measure an inch, and an inch-and-a-halfer is a true behemoth in the cricket frog world.

Blanchard's cricket frogs are said to be declining in many areas, but I still find them common in much of western Ohio. The pond where I made these photographs had scads of them. Cricket frogs are the last of our frogs to begin vocalizing, often not firing up the vocal chords until well into May. They make a sound similar to two pebbles being tapped rapidly together, and if there are lots of frogs, the collective clicking creates a symphonic cacophony of clacks. Sorry about that last sentence.

Anyway, should you find yourself along the sparsely vegetated verges of ponds, lakes, or streams, keep an eye peeled for these tiny jumpers.