barren nights

[whippoorbill]

Congratulations, Guy! Your check is in the mail.

Here's another guy that was out for a swim Friday night. Handsome, handsome, handsome.

 

[Teegate]

Congratulations, Guy! Your check is in the mail.

Since you have my address, I'm thinking it just might be

Guy

 

[whippoorbill]

What could be better than heading for the pines (albeit, tonight, their southern fringe; Belleplain State Forest) at dusk, loaded with recording and photo gear, listening to the sounds and focusing down on the beauty. Below are a few of the photo results ... the diminutive spring peeper (four singing fellows); a gray tree frog, which made not a sound, but I somehow picked him up while looking closely at pond-side trees (and quietly photographed, so as to not disturb); and a bullfrog. Several of these big guys were heard in a (non-acidic) vernal pond near a gravel pit. The model was lured from the water (well, he was peacefully snatched) to strike the pose before he happily hopped back to safety.

Thanks, Alfie, for shining the light.

Thanks for looking,

Bill

 

[Teegate]

Nice shots Bill! Another late night for you and Al

Guy

 

[ICANOE2]

Bill, your photos are amazing!!
Thanks for posting.
Mike

 

[Swamp Thing]

shinig lights and swamp diving is nothing in the pursuit of frogs

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Bill, you be the man!

 

[jburd641]

I thought I was looking in a mirror on that last pic.

 

[woodjin]

Very nice Bill, as always.

 

[whippoorbill]

Thanks for the compliments, Folks.

I returned, solo, to the scene of the weekend's photo/recording session ... mainly to apologize to the bullfrog for making him pose the other night. As you can see, he looked much more thrilled about being photographed tonight.

The trip back to Belleplain was timed after all the heavy rain yesterday and evening, and I rightly figured that the bogs would be full of frog crooning. Love songs, ballads, all that. How neat ... I heard two pine barren tree frogs in one very vernal pond; this is a first for me in Belleplain. I've never heard any that far south, and I captured a field recording (before my recorder died; hopefully not for good) of the pbtfs with a fine assortment of peepers, Fowler's and, frogs I've never heard in the same waters as pbtfs, northern gray tree frogs.

After my recorder went on the blink, I focused on taking some photos. Here are three more peepers and a mostly submerged Fowler's toad is on the bottom.

Barren nights rock.

Thanks for looking again,
Bill

 

[whippoorbill]

Some friends have pointed out a sense of plaintiveness (or melancholy) one gets when looking at some of the camera-to-eye photos of the frogs and toads. I have to agree. But, moreso, I get a feeling of vulnerabiltiy. The thumbnailed guy in the grass (there's a larger photo of him above) speaks so more than any. Hardly the size of a human thumb, and frail.

But, dang, the peepers sure can make a racket.

Bill

 

[whippoorbill]

Only a few photos taken during another recording outing along the barren fringes last night. The weather front that brought all the rain was reluctant to clear and we got flashes of lightning, distant thunder, and wild, wild clouds (special effects superb due to the backlighting moon). Even a rainbow appeared at sunset, but I wasn't able to capture that with the camera; by the time I hopped out of the car to set up a shot -- it was gone.

Anyway, three photos ...

The amphibians were the true stars of the night, so, for the most part, Al and I just sat back and listened.

 

[woodjin]

Very nice Bill, that second pic with the clouds is a winner. Sorry you missed the rainbow.

Jeff

 

[YETI]

As always cool pics.

Paul

 

[whippoorbill]

Looking west from a newfound haven near Belleplain State Forest the past few dusks, resulting in a full hand of photos taken almost from the exact same spot, with slight adjustments for foreground and to the camera, including two zoom silhouettes -one of a seagull and the other a chirping (fortuitously recorded!) soaring-in-a-breeze osprey.

Bill

 

[whippoorbill]

it's an older one, but thought I'd bring it over from the other side ...

(which gives me an opportunity to add that I've noticed some of the darker shots I post here on this thread and in my gallery look really bad on many monitors - - apologies to those that have such and are forced to look at what appear to be squares of blackness)

Bill

 

[bobpbx]

it's an older one, but thought I'd bring it over from the other side ...Bill[/QUOTE]

That is a very intriguing photo Bill. I can't describe how I feel when looking at it. I first thought...hmm, thats scary. But then, no, not that at all.

I like it a lot. Was the path macadam?

 

[whippoorbill]

Tough couple of days.

I'd recently reconnected with a great childhood friend -- Brian and I spent over a dozen years hanging out together on a near-daily basis; carefree play. We crossed paths again as we both have sons involved with our local Little League (and they're darned good players). Brian was helping his son's team practice the other day and died on the field, with his boy at his side.

Yeah, that and I'm sitting here looking at our family dog laying on the floor. He has an appointment with the vet in less than three hours and Bennie's probably going to have to be put down.

Ouches ...

Thanks for the outlet,
Bill

 

[andy1015]

I'm sorry to hear bill. That has got to be tough for everybody. My thoughts are with you and the families.

 

[Teegate]

Sorry to hear that Bill.

Guy