Small frog in a little pond

A few years ago I raised a batch of northern leopard frogs from eggs and I released some of them in the pond at Innovation Place. They seemed to thrive over the summer, but the next spring there was no sign of them. I assume the pond is too shallow and they froze. Since then I haven't seen any frogs there - until today. I was looking for fishing spiders and a wood frog jumped right in front of me. As they have a tendency to, it dove underwater into the weeds and I lost it. I took the chance to pull out my camera and then I waited patiently for it to come up for air. Moving slowly I managed to get a few shots. It dove and resurfaced a couple of times but luckily still within reach.





Wood frogs are perhaps a better match for the shallow pond since, amazingly, they can be mostly frozen and still survive. I'm not sure where it would have come from (unless someone else has been surreptitiously stocking the pond!) The nearest water is a long way away, although in the spring the ditches full of water might provide routes.



Love those long legs and webbed feet!

I'm happy to see the new resident at the pond. I hope it hangs around and multiplies! A few garter snakes would be next on my list :-) The pond seems to be surprisingly healthy with lots of insects. I'm hoping that means they're not using too many pesticide on the gardens.

PS. I did also spot some fishing spiders, like this one with a nice spot in the sun to wait for unsuspecting prey.