Catching Frogs at Berry Springs

There were frogs all right, 

thousands of them. 

Their voices beat the night, 

they boomed and barked and croaked and rattled. 

They sang to the stars, 

to the waning moon, 

to the waving grasses. 

They bellowed long songs and challenges.
~John Steinbeck

Amphibian Watch *- Seriously, doesn't the name sound like something you want to do? Doesn't it take you back to wading in the creek or drainage ditch to catch frogs, turtles, and other critters or sitting at the edge of a pond listening to night sounds - a symphony of croakers?

You probably were unaware that there are armies of volunteers across the country checking on the health of amphibians in creeks, rivers, ponds, and lakes. What do they do? They go out to designated sites - listen/record and catch/measure/photograph/release.

DH and I joined that "army" of volunteers recently. We are taking the Texas Master Naturalist training.** Volunteer hours are required. Two members of our class had participated in a local amphibian watch last month and LOVED it. They shared photos and video --  an enormous bullfrog (are they really that big?) and a tiny green tree frog.

We were in.

Eight of us gathered with KMcC. She is the project leader for this spot, the homestead of an early settler which is now a county park (more on that in a later post). We arrived just before sundown and walked along the marshy waterways in the park - looking and listening.

There are guidelines for how to report - did you see or hear (or both) the frog? What is the call index value (how much, how long, overlap)? And there are other rules - like if you are wearing insect repellent*** you may not touch the frog.

We carried the tools of the intrepid amphibian watcher - nets, buckets, thermometers, microphones, clipboard with reporting form, flashlights (LOTS of flashlights), more than a few binoculars, and cell phones. DH had all the gear he and I needed - waterproof footwear, hats, sweatbands, bug spray, binoculars, and flashlights (LOTS of flashlights).

Many of our group  were experienced birders, identifying what we saw - the Bluebirds and Yellow-crowned Night-heron and discussing other birds we might see. All seemed interested in just about everything - scorpions (none tonight), spiders, insects, and plants. I was able to share the identity of a tree (Redbud) with one of our fellow trainees.**** People were generous, pointing out the creatures they observed and holding the light "just so" for photographs.

Quote of the night? Addressing the bullfrog KMcC commented, "You're lucky we're not herons."

We started to look along the edge of the stream.

"Get the net!" RS caught the bulk of the frogs this evening. He's the guy to watch!

Along the water.

And, as the sun went down, the action started.

The Yellow-crowned Night-heron seemed somewhat used to people. It allowed us to approach fairly close. I have video of it catching supper.

Do you see the turtle just under the water? We saw a few and I attempted to snag this evidence.

This photo is "enhanced" - see the turtle now?

An orb-weaver of some kind.

A snake was observed here, but it avoided capture.

This pump maintains the water level of the ponds. Due to recent rains, the water is flowing over the small dam and the flow here is due to artesian pressure (the water table is so high right now that pressure alone is causing the flow and no "pumping" is needed.

Getting pretty dark.

Before the real action started.

Lots of hands were required to move the frog from net to bucket. Measuring and photographic documentation was quick and efficient.

One holds the lid while another takes a photo.

Where does all this information go? Well, "there's an app for that."*****

Rio Grande leopard frog #1. Isn't it beautiful?

Now, THAT'S a frog - our one bullfrog of the evening

"You're lucky we're not herons."

Rio Grande leopard frog #2

Rio Grande leopard frog #3

At least we think it is a Rio Grande leopard frog

I will get these angles worked out over time.

The harvest moon was rising as we gathered our gear to head home (yes, bad cell photo).

On the way back to the car park we stopped to see if we could find Gulf Coast toads****** under the lights. And we did. GCT #1

More documentation.

Another spider

GCT #2

Measuring GCT #2 and #3.

The Lists:

We saw:
Bluebirds
2 bats
2 Yellow-crowned Night-herons
3 (?) Rio Grande leopard frogs
1 Bullfrog
3 Gulf Coast toads ("Who knew that's what they are called?" says the girl from the gulf coast)
2 spiders
A few turtles
2 snakes (I didn't see them, but this is an honorable bunch and I trust RS (who also caught most of the frogs - that man is a genius with a net!)
Many squirrels
Hundreds of fireflies
A critical mass of Boy Scouts

We heard:
Rio Grande leopard frogs
Cricket frogs
bats (really-there is piece of equipment that picks-up and amplifies the sounds of bats)
Yellow-crowned Night-heron (THAT is a scary cry)
One squirrel making short-work of a pecan
[And all kinds of other stuff - kids, music, crickets, water flowing out of a well and over the small dam - lots of night noises and people noises]

NOTES:

*http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/texas_nature_trackers/amphibian_watch/amphibian_species/

 https://www.aza.org/frogwatch

** http://txmn.org/

***It is still hot and humid here. The mosquitoes are out. DH and I weighed the value of being mosquito-free versus getting to touch the frogs...mosquito-free won. There will be other opportunities to catch and hold the jumpers.

****She has returned to Texas and is ready to plant trees in her yard. I was relieved she asked about something I knew.

***** http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/herps-of-texas

****** My siblings and I used to hunt Gulf Coast frogs around our house. There were two sure-bet spots. One was the corner of the driveway (near the air conditioner). The other was in our neighbor's yard - near the standpipe. We would "encourage" the toads to vacate their cool damp home with a little help from the water hose. Other times we'd catch them on the back porch where they'd come to catch insects drawn to the lights from inside the house.

Spiders I have known

 “Once you begin watching spiders, you haven't time for much else.” 

~ E.B. White

Nope...not pointing fingers here or telling a tale. This is literal. I wanted a place to gather the photos of some spiders I have found and appreciated, if not loved.

One of the largest garden spiders I have ever seen. Observed at my parents house. 2015.

A small spider. Art Barn. 2016.

Tunnel spiders filled Indian Hawthorn bushes. Irvine, California. 2016

Someone is home at the end of the tunnel.

None too friendly looking.

This is not a good photo. Sorry. And I cannot recognize the foliage. So I an not sure of the location, but it is one of my favorites, a garden spider.

This is a smallish garden spider in the aspidestra at my home. I think I expected him to grow larger and never saw him/her at a larger size. 2015

This spider was on the outside of my window at work - my second floor window. It built a web and caught this insect. I spent a few choice moments watching the spider carefully wrap the bug (it is a true bug). 2005-2015 - not sure when it was. I suspect smack in the middle, so we can call it 2010.

While photographing the honeysuckle in the park I captured this battle. 2016

I'm fairly confident this spider was in our hotel room in Dublin (Ireland, not Texas) in 2014. I normally let spiders do their thing, but this one had to be eliminated for the security of the group.

One golden morning I found spiders in every gap in the woods. The sunlight was hitting them just right. How could I resist? 2016

More to come - like this spider hiding in my windshield wiper:

See the creature...it traveled back and forth building a web inside the wiper.

And at Berry Springs Park (we were looking for frogs, but found loads of things):

This spider looked like a type of garden spider. That web is familiar.

This spider built a web between tree limbs. We avoided the web (barely seen here in the upper right corner) and tried to get a photo.

Crazy spider in the art barn. Twist tie used for comparison. 9-2016

Woohoo! Two more from the park this morning (9-25-2016):

Initially this one looked like a leaf on the web. Then I focused.

 A few hundred feet away, along the edge of the woods:

This guy looked very "furry."

October, 2016 at the house

What a fabulous example of an orb weaver's web. I am praying for a heavy dew tomorrow morning.

Darn - no dew, but some nice photos...

I'm not sure if s/he was sleeping or ready to pounce. When I tapped the web, it "woke" and went wild.

And then tonight I got a little video and more photos:

10:00 p.m. We found these two spiders face to face (legs to legs?). Soon after this photo something happened and suddenly they were on different parts of the web. We will keep watching. [The usual spider is the one on the right.]

  The spider's web: She finds an innocuous corner in which to spin her web. 

The longer the web takes, the more fabulous its construction. 

She has no need to chase. She sits quietly, her patience a consummate force; 

 she waits for her prey to come to her on their own, 

and then she ensnares them, 

injects them with venom,

 rendering them unable to escape. 

Spiders – so needed and yet so misunderstood.

~Donna Lynn Hope

Our Paddy

Everyone needs their photo in the bluebonnets, even Paddy Finn.

If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

~ Will Rogers

"Come get this dog," insisted my baby brother. "You need a guard dog who can see and hear."*

A young chocolate lab mix had wandered up to his house and he had no fence. After a visit to the vet we agreed to adopt the dog and rigged an enclosure on MC's pickup so we could get her home. Paddy, named so because we got her on St. Paddy's Day (in 2005) became a part of the family.

Paddy was a lot of things. She was a good barker. She had loads of energy. She was a love (and thought she should be able to sit in your lap). She was smart enough as she could sit and fetch and knew at least two words - "Paddy" and "cookie."

She was good company on walks. And we walked.

Paddy went into a depression as she mourned Oreo's death in early 2010. And she developed some anxiety issues. She began to fear loud noises, escaping the yard when neighbors set-off fireworks or the skies sent thunderstorms. [After one such escape she was missing for two days. We searched the pounds and prepared flyers. We didn't have to "paper the neighborhood" as two days were enough absence and she came home covered in "beggar's lice."]

At some point we thought she might do better with a companion so we invited Scruffy to join us in the summer of 2012. She didn't know what to think of him. Each dog attempted to establish dominance before they agreed that I was the Alpha anyway and they would share Beta status. Paddy's anxiety did not go away, but she seemed to enjoy having a friend.

If you are a regular reader here, you have come on some of our walks. This blog address honors Paddy (sometimes Padimus) and began as a place to save the stories of our walks.

If you are a regular reader, you also know that we lost Scruffy in January. We were able to take one final wild run at the wildlife area before the strokes became too much for Scruff.

But Paddy's illness did not allow us that last walk so I post these photos of some of our final adventures.

Two old dogs running wild.

Keep up.

Heading to the creek for a swim.

That was tasty!

"Hey! Look what I found!"

"Paddy, put that bone down! Leave it!"

Heading back for a cookie.

Good smells.

Alerting on something in our neighborhood park.

Heading back home.

Running.

Sometimes she was too fast for the camera.

Always happy to see we were headed to the park or wildlife are and NOT the vet.

Swimming with friends at the creek - Hugo, Ruby and Stanley.

Paddy knew that TDW always had treats.

"Here is a nasty smell. Let me roll in it."

"Get up, Paddy!"

More bluebonnet photos.

Sometimes it's had to get them to pose.

This is how I will remember them.

Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.

~ Dean Koontz

NOTES:

*DH was heading to central Asia for a year and our family dog, Oreo was, indeed, losing her sight and her hearing.