Wood Frogs save the day

 Since today was going to be a nice day, Sunday funday was going to be outside. I came up with a plan to look for wildlife at multiple locations. Most of the morning was an exercise in futility however. The morning started off with a dip on Great Horned Owls in Providence. Then we jumped over to Brickyard Farm in Barrington. The goal was to  see Black Crowned Night Herons that had been reported. Up to twenty were there this week but we did not see any of them today. We did see some Great Blue Herons and Ospreys. 

   From Barrington we drove back up to Lime Rock Preserve in Lincoln. This is a very good spot to see Wood Frogs a short walk from the parking lot. Knowing the ground around the vernal pool would be wet, we each brought a beach towel to sit on. We walked up to the pool and found a spot to sit at. We heard a few Wood Frogs but only a couple were in view and under thick brush at that. I got a photo of a couple of them but nothing I'd even keep in my archives.

   From Lincoln we went up to my hometown of North Attleboro in the hopes of seeing the Spring Peepers I saw last year. However, they were not active at midday. I knew seeing them so early was a longshot. We did hear more Wood Frogs but based on where they were calling, we didn't have a chance in hell of seeing them. Things looked a little brighter at lunchtime. We stopped at Rico's sub shop for lunch. We had the best subs that we'd had in a long time. I got an Italian and Laurie got a chicken cutlet with mayo, lettuce, pickles, and onions. Not that I have eaten many subs since I was diagnosed (maybe two others) but it was the best sub I've had in years.

 

Frogs making frogs

  From Rico's we drove to Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon. The one goal was to see Wood Frogs. These vernal pools are usually full of them so we had high hopes. Before we climbed the hill the pools were behind we could hear the chatter of an uncountable number of frogs. We walked down to the water with our trusty towels and sat. We didn't have to wait, there were a dozen frogs within spitting distance. Unlike most vernal pools, the frogs in this pool showed no fear. At any point, I had at least two frogs too close for my camera to focus on ( my camera needs eleven feet to focus and we sat three feet from the water). I still had multiple frogs within shooting distance.

   There were enough frogs very close that I could choose which one(s) I wanted to photograph based on the light. The sun was going in and out of the clouds so I played with my settings multiple times in the thirty minutes we were there. Before today, I had plenty of nice photos of Wood Frogs, but I have to admit, I was having a lot of fun taking pictures of them and just enjoying their antics. We walked back to the car more than satisfied with our amphibian experience.

   Since it was only 3 pm and so nice out we drove to Attleboro Springs Wildlife Sanctuary which is behind La Salette Shrine in Attleboro. We didn't have a target species we just didn't want to go home. We did find more Wood Frogs and some songbirds where a person left bird seed. Then we walked around the pond at La Salette. In the pond we saw big Goldfish, shiners, sunfish, and a catfish that I do not think is a bullhead. It was a good day. Plenty more photos below  

I am always happier to see the frogs than them me

White Breasted Nuthatch (photo upgrade)

Catfish