Monday, August 1, 2011

I Found Frogs!

Just like it says in the title, I found frogs! I'm really excited about this because these are the first frog pictures I've ever had. As a matter of fact, these are the first frogs I've really even seen on my everyday adventures.

I've had plenty of toads before, but no frogs. I know toads are really a kind of frog but a little different, but finding real frogs has been a goal of mine. I never thought I'd be able to see any frogs because they are almost always in the water. Let me tell you how I found these.

I was walking across a small footbridge, and I was looking down into the water when I saw little bubbles in the water. I was expecting to find a crayfish, but when I looked closer I found this frog above. He looked to be about as long as one of my fingers.

I did the second picture with the flash on because it was dark. It makes the frog look very different. I don't normally use a flash, and I was experimenting with it a bit. I found two frogs near each other, and I took pictures of each one with the flash off and then on.

While I was taking the pictures, a dragonfly kept flying near the frogs, and the first one jumped at it and tried to catch it. But I didn't get any pictures of that. Such a shame. Now I'm doomed to a life of utter misery.

Let's pause from the frog talk for a minute so I can share a couple of blogging tips, as I promised. Most of these will be more closely related to Blogger because that's what I use, but some, like today's are useful to everyone.

The first little tip I want to share is a Blogger related thing. Many of you may have noticed problems with Blogger and the comment system. I'm guessing that you are using Internet Explorer. If you switch to either Firefox or Google Chrome your problems will go away. Don't worry, you can use all of these browsers at the same time if you like. I use five different ones. This problem is Blogger's fault, but that is the solution.

I also recently found out some information about Picasa, the service where all of our Blogger pictures are stored. As many of you know, we have a total of 1 GB to store our photos. After that, we're either out of luck or we have to purchase more. But Picasa has given us a workaround.

They say if your pictures are 800 pixels or less, then they don't count towards your total 1 GB storage limit. So I am now making my pictures 800x600 or less. I may be wrong, so I'm going to monitor my amount used to see if I'm right. Here's a link to their post about this info. See what you think.

Back to the frogs! I can remember hearing frogs croaking at the edge of most ponds I've been to, but I never see them. Now I'll know to look for those bubbles. That's one more little nature thing I've learned now. Now I can find frogs easier. Maybe I can even learn to con them into liking me, like I do with deer.

I'd show you a picture of the bridge I was on, but it's only a couple of pieces of plywood nailed to some four by fours. Really not much of a bridge at all, but it does the job. Otherwise I'd have to walk into the creek and get eaten by alligators. Well, maybe only imaginary-gators. But those kind are sometimes just as dangerous if you walk around the woods in a giant rat suit.

You don't believe me about the rat suit? I'll leave you with one last picture then.

It's only because the zipper's stuck and I can't get out.


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20 comments:

  1. Hi Ratty,
    Thanks for the heads up.Useful indeed for not so new neither an expert blogger like me.

    Luv the shots.They are great especially the last one :)

    Have a great week ahead.

    Regards
    Umi

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  2. Ratty, I think I'd pass out if I happened upon a person in a rat suit! LOL

    How fantastic about the frogs!!
    I see lots of toads, too..not many frogs.

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  3. I enjoy the frog shot, my little dog scares them away a lot. I like to shoot from my kayak.

    The suit would have fit in well on the cross state bike ride i was just on.I am still limping from it.

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  4. This is such a fun blog. I am glad to have found you out there.

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  5. that must have really been fun except for the stuck zipper of course.

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  6. Those are great pictures (including the rat suit)! And thanks for the Blogger tips!

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  7. great shots of the frogs. That's really good to know about the Picasa. I had no idea. Thanks for sharing that

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  8. Really nice frog pictures, Ratty! Lately I've had a hard time photographing them!

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  9. I love your frog photos! Too bad you did not get the one going after the dragonfly - I would have liked to see that!

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  10. It's a lovely experience to happen upon a crowd of baby frogs.

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  11. I love frogs! I used to catch so many when I was a kid. I loved them.
    As far as Picasa goes, I don't feel like duplicating all my pictures just to resize them so I've gone to deleting older ones and the posts. I am always almost maxed out by 5 MB. I am deleting almost every week now. I suppose I could resize some if I absolutely have to. But I didn't know about that Ratty so thanks for telling us!!

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  12. Great photos of the Green Frog. They all look so friendly under your lens! Great blogging tips! No need to fix the zipper you look fine in that get up!

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  13. you always bring humor to my day, love your frog pictures, I don't think I have one frog picture yet, they are so rare here in San Diego :(

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  14. When it rains it pours, frogs, that is in Florida. These little guys are obnoxious around me after the afternoon storms.

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  15. What a frog is to you?

    It brings joy and excitement.

    Though it is only a frog.

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  16. You and your rat suit! You always make me laugh. Your frog pictures are terrific. They look a lot happier than those poor frogs I saw in the bin, squashed upon each other, at Manila Market!

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  17. The frog photos are terrific, but I sort of like the Rat one at the end..I guess I'm odd in that sense..

    Thanks for the info on Picassa since I'm always wondering on storage issue. I'm cutting down the sizes these past few months just in case...

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  18. Last weekend my son was helping me take all the dead debris out of a large grass fern plant and we came across two of the fastest frogs you ever saw...i never thought to take any pictures though...maybe next time. I have to say though...they weren't as colourful as your frogs!

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  19. great frogs... miss my town.. and the back of my home... reminds me of the moment after a day of rain

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