MOAR Spring!
After the deep freeze, we've thawed out again big time! Near 70's F and rainy, which means FROGS! LOTS OF FROGS!!! The little western chorus frogs were singing full tilt in the pond today - totally awesome and I may have suffered some hearing loss while video taping, but it was worth it! Just look at this handsome little guy EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
WARNING: If you have good speakers on your computer you may want to turn them down - these doobers are tiny, but they're LOUD! This is at a little ditch/vernal pool area in the park - same place I videotaped the fairy shrimp (and you get to see me, sort of...) It's so amazing - you can be surrounded by a hundred frogs and not see a single one. It took me about twenty minutes of standing and waiting for them to start calling again, and then finally spotting one in the grasses.
Click to viewWARNING: Amphibian pr0nz photo ahead!
Two chorus frogs in amplexus - the male is the slightly smaller one on top. He fertilizes the eggs as the female lays them.
Close up of some fresh-laid eggs - the ones in the video were older - they get more separated as the egg jelly expands in the water, and they eventually orient themselves dark side up, making them quite difficult to spot underwater.
Bonus video: Opossum Dreaming - this is Circles, one of my education opossums who has been in an outdoor enclosure all winter. With the warm weather she was sleeping belly up, and twitching in her sleep. Check out the nice view of the opposable thumb!