It was beginning to get dark, so the frog photographer in me started yearning to move on. I tried a couple of shallow puddles along the road where I could hear frogs calling, but there was still too much skylight to be able to sneak up on anything. I drove into town for a burger and came back after dark.
My first stop was this little pond. I was hoping for something cool, but all I heard was a few dozen Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer). I crept out into the pond and crouched next to one for a few minutes until I could get a shot of him calling.
I headed back up to the main road and listened at some of the shallow pools in the forest. I heard more Spring Peepers and the psychotic chuckle of some Southern Leopard Frogs (Rana sphenocephala). Off in the forest I heard the little tooth comb trill of some Western Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris triseriata). I took my digicam and my handy Lithium/Xenon mini flashlight and headed off.
The pond they were calling from was buried deep amongst a stand of greenbriar and other tangled vines and I had to fight my way in. En route, my little power light suddenly decided the batteries were dying. These little lights are Q Beam bright with new batteries, but after a few hours of use they suddenly fade to black. I knew I had about 10 minutes of usable light left before I would be stranded in the forest in the dark. I finally found one of the little SOBs, but he had stopped calling (could it have been the sound of someone hacking and slashing their way to his pond?). I waited a while, but the failing flashlight concerned me, so I nabbed this picture and headed back to the car (it didn't focus properly because the dim yellow glow from my flashlight wasn't enough assistance for the autofocus mechanism!).
It was now 9:00 pm, 49°, and I was wet. Sounds like a good time to head home. On the way I stopped and listened for frogs, but heard nothing new. Only DOR I saw was a Southern Leopard Frog on the Navasota River bridge.
A good day herping overall (is there any other kind?). The highlight was certainly my first herp (the coralsnake), but I did manage to get a few frogs on my year list.
I leave you with an East Texas Violet (Viola sp.) - a harbinger of spring in these parts
