Frog Blog

Last week was a pretty exciting week at the “office”. We were outside for most of the time taking pictures. Jane and I set out to take some pictures for her postcard and my bio at the website. We started off at the bird boxes at Marsh Creek State Park. Inside the one of the Bird box was a family of Tree Swallow chicks. Jane took them out of the box and we both got a chance to hold them and take pictures with them. It was amazing. The Birds were so little and innocent. If you have ever seen a baby bird you will know what I’m talking about when I say that they are adorable and so fragile. Many people think that if you handle baby birds the mother will abandon it (like mammals do) but that is not the case. The reason for this is because birds don’t have the sense of smell that mammals do. For decades scientist have been banding baby birds in their nests and that how we know it is okay to do this. It’s not very often that you get the chance to hold a baby bird but working with Jane I am presented with many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. It is amazing how human-like the Tree Swallow parents are. Whenever we got around the nest they dive bomb towards our heads to try and scare us away from their babies. They have many similar characteristics as a human parent. What parent wouldn’t try and dive bomb a stranger interfering with their children?

Next we went to another park that had a pond. We wanted to get pictures of ourselves with some wildlife. It had to be wildlife that was safe for us to touch as well as safe for the wildlife (such as turtles, butterflies, and frogs). At first we tried to catch some turtles but every time they saw us coming they scurried into the water. Next we made a couple of attempts to catch a frog but they all jumped away from us. Until finally the Frog Wrangler (AKA me) caught a frog rather easily. I did it with a butterfly net. After I caught the frog we found a shaded spot to take pictures with our new friend croaky. Jane held the frog first and as it got closer to my turn I got a little freaked out but I held him anyway. Croaky felt as you would expect a frog to feel: cold, slimy, and wet. It was a little creepy at first but all worth it.  Of course we returned him to his home.

Other exciting things that we saw during our outdoor adventure were Great Blue Herons, a baby Catbird, a baby Brown Thrasher and lots of butterflies puddling. Jane and I were trying to get some videos for her vlog (take a look at her video log). While Jane and I were walking one of the park trails we heard the call of a baby bird. As we continued to walk we saw a baby Catbird just a few feet in front of us. The bird kept opening its mouth and calling for its parents to feed him. The bird was so round and fluffy; he looked like a little adorable fuzz ball! We spent a good amount of time watching, I took photos including the one here, and Jane took videos of the baby Catbird. The whole time we were there the mother and father bird kept flying all around us.

Next we saw a baby Brown Thrasher, which is an absolutely beautiful bird. We didn’t get to take any pictures or video of it but it was the first one we saw this year so it was pretty exciting. Next we saw two Great Blue Heron flying right over our heads at the lake. This bird is quite the sight to see because it is huge! Great Blue Herons can be 38-54 inches tall and their wing span can be 66-79 inches wide, that’s one big bird! 

The last bit of nature we observed that day were some puddling butterflies. There were many different kinds, some we still didn’t identify. There were definitely some Orange Sulphurs, Cabbage Whites, Great Spangled Frittillaries, Meadow Frittilaries, and Red-spotted Purples.

This Take A Walk adventure was exciting because it was filled with so many different types of nature. It is amazing how quickly I have learned about these animals I am seeing. It is becoming easier for me to identify the animals, especially the birds. I am even starting to recognize their calls.