Frogs Galore

This post is out of order, but I don't think the frogs will mind. I took so many frog photos that they deserved a post of their own. One advantage of travelling alone is that no one cares if you spend hours frog watching :-)

When I arrived, I was interested to read that the gardens of Hotel Bougainvillea contained several ponds where they were trying to help frog conservation. Most people aren’t thrilled with frogs although cute red-eyed tree frogs are associated with Costa Rica. I checked out the ponds the day I arrived but didn’t spot any frogs. I did see several small splashes as I approached one of the ponds. That could have been frogs but it could have been other things.

The next morning I went back and approached the pond more slowly. Sure enough, I spotted a frog. There was a ledge around the pond and it was out of the water sitting on the ledge. I realized there were damp spots on the ledge where frogs were (or had been) sitting.

I sat by the pond and watched. I figured if there was one frog there were probably more. There were lots of tadpoles which was a good sign. Sure enough, I eventually spotted several sets of eyes poking out of the water. With enough patience and scanning my highest count was 6 visible at one time. There are four visible in this photo but they're hard to see.

Most of the time, all that was visible were the protruding eyes, usually in the middle of vegetation.

The ledge was about four inches above the water. I never saw one get out of the water onto the ledge. I assume they jumped? But it's not easy to jump out of water.

Of course, they had no trouble jumping off the ledge back into the water. I caught this photo as it swam away. It's interesting to see how long and slim they are when swimming, compared to when sitting bunched up.

During all my time watching them, I only saw one (failed) attempt at catching an insect. Being a frog obviously requires even more patience than frog watching.

The funniest part was after an extended session of sitting on the uncomfortable rock by the pond, my legs had gone to sleep and when I tried to get back up (slowly, without disturbing the frogs) I ended up rolling backwards in slow motion, giving priority of course to protecting the two cameras in my lap. Luckily no one was watching. (And luckily I didn't roll forward into the pond!)

Curiously, I didn't see any frogs at the pond with the sign about them. But I could easily have missed them. It seemed like a good spot for them, but I didn't see any tadpoles either. Another pond also seemed to be missing frogs and tadpoles. I decided that this was because it was so shallow (only a few inches). Then I spotted a frog (sitting right in the open). So much for that theory!

There was quite a lot of variation in the coloring. Some were more green and some more brown. The sign mentioned Forreri Leopard Frogs, and the one above looks a lot like the leopard frogs I know from Canada. But the one I saw first was more of a pure light green. I'm not sure if it's a different kind, or just a more extreme variation.

Here's a view of the pond with the hotel in the background. (One of those balconies was my room.)

See all 37 photos in this batch.