Wildlife Photography across the Water: frogblog 11

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Frogblog '11 update

There are still a few tadpoles in the pond that seem to be happy as tadpoles. With the changing weather they probably need to think about hurrying up to become frogs.

With the second phase of brush cutting in the wildflower garden this last weekend, the froglets and adult frogs are starting to run out of hiding places, although to be fair there are still plenty for them

As a result, after cutting the brush, at about a height of 50mm, the ground was alive with little jumpers.

This one posed for me by the edged of the reflection pool in the sun for a while and had a little mate join him on his back.

It was great to see so many at different sizes and colours from light yellow through to very dark green out there.

Martin

Thursday, 31 March 2011

Frog Blog 11 - Part 6 - We have swimmers

Checking out the pond when I got home from work last night, I noticed a number of clumps of freshly vacated spawn, and found a few other clumps with large dark areas in the centre of them. Check out this pic from last year, as it is the same this year.

Last year it was fourteen days from spawn to swimmers and this year it has been thirteen, but we are a whole 12 days earlier in the cycle. Casting my mind back, that would be as a result of the severely cold weather we had in January last year pushing the breeding season back, compared to the very cold weather that was in December in the winter just gone.

With the large increase in spawn put down this year, I am expecting that we will get a lot of froglets. That is if the dragonfly larva don't get too many of them

Another another recent dark time check out, I saw a couple of Southern Hawker nymphs that look like they might well come out later this year.

Martin

Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.