HCP Gardens

A few photos from a recent visit to the HCP Gardens

Bullfrogs (introduced) have even found their way into the small pool at the entrance.

I think this is a Cardinal Meadowhawk. It's not bright red so probably a female. The wings down and forward means it's ready to launch.

It was lily season.

The air was a little cool so the Common Wall Lizards were out basking in the sun.

Water lilies are a favorite.

I think this is a Blue Dasher (with a nice colorful background). It's also in its typical ready-to-launch posture.

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Road Trip Wrapup

Better late than never, I finally finished going through my photos from our last road trip. (Sorry, it's a long post, I couldn't get motivated to split it up.) After our week at Five Springs (with a break in Sheridan) we stopped in Cody to clean up. We stayed at the Chamberlin Inn, another historic hotel. (Hemingway stayed there) It's just a block off the main street with a nice garden in the back.

The next day we drove through Yellowstone and Teton National Parks. On our way through Yellowstone we ran into a large group of cars and people stopped beside the road. We couldn't tell what they were looking at but there was a place to pull off so we stopped. It turned out to be a grizzly bear and two cubs, on a hillside quite far from the road. I pulled out my longest telephoto and took lots of photos, although it was tricky taking photos through the trees, and I was hand holding when I really needed a tripod for such a long lens. So the shots aren't great, but they're the first I have of a wild grizzly. I had to wonder at the people trying to take photos with their phones. The bears would be tiny dots.

It's been a while since we've driven by the Tetons. It seems (is!) a long time ago when we climbed Grand Teton (the high point in the photo below).

At the other end of the size/rarity spectrum from the grizzlies, I like this ground squirrel with a mouthful of flowers.

At our next campsite, just past Jackson, we had a friendly squirrel come looking for handouts.

I followed this butterfly through the forest. It had a habit of pausing briefly on tree trunks so I eventually got some photos of it.

The next day we were passing by Idaho Falls and noticed they had a zoo so we stopped. It wasn't very big but I always enjoy seeing the animals. (despite the debatable ethics of zoos) It's always hit or miss whether zoos work out for photographs. Too many bars and mesh and dirty windows and uncooperative subjects. But occasionally it works out.

Our next stop was Craters of the Moon National Monument. We were a little worried that the campground might be full since it was a weekend. But there was a huge windstorm and most of the people with tents were leaving. I sometimes feel a bit guilty about having our van instead of tenting, but it is nice to escape the weather. People ask us how we manage in our tiny van, but to us it's a big step up from tenting. Whereas people with huge fancy RV's and Sprinter vans still feel it's a step down from their house. Despite (or because of) the windstorm, there was a colorful sunset.

The next morning the wind had died down and I ran the North Crater trail out and back. Later in the day it's a busy trail, but first thing I didn't see a single other person. It's only 8 km but 350 m (1100 ft) of elevation gain. Our next stop was at an obscure campground on the Snake River just past Boise. We never would have found these places before Google Maps. $10 per night and the campground was almost empty :-) A wild turkey with chicks went by, and several California Quail. The occasional milkweed plants were a big hit with the insects. I looked for Monarch caterpillars, but no luck.

The next day we stopped to eat lunch in Willamina. We were sitting in the park by the pond when we heard a weird noise. I thought it might be a bullfrog. Sure enough, just a few feet away there was a big fat bullfrog. It disappeared when we started taking photos but I spotted it again a bit later. American Bullfrogs aren't native but they've spread widely, partly because people introduced them in order to eat them. Nowadays, frog's legs aren't as popular and the bullfrogs have multiplied and eat anything and everything they can catch and stuff in their big mouths. What goes around comes around.

There were also quite a few of these Eight-spotted Skimmers, a large striking dragonfly.

Back at the coast we headed for Cape Lookout State Park. We were a bit surprised to find the campground was full. Despite the signs we stopped at the entrance booth and it turned out there was one yurt left. We were happy not to be searching for somewhere else at the end of a day of driving. I was surprised to see this Cedar Waxwing in the campground. In Saskatoon I thought of them as winter birds.

This White-crowned sparrow posed nicely in the evening light.

Our lunch spot the next day yielded a common loon and a crab spider that Shelley spotted.

Our last night we stayed at a campground near Olympia. The only attraction was that there was a nature area nearby with turtles and ducks and reflections.

Our last day we stopped at the Tacoma Zoo since we hadn't been there for a while and their new aquarium was finally open.

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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.)

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