A night out with frogs – Costa Rica day 2

As you might imagine, my idea of a fun night is less about the bar scene and more about the activities. When those activities include photography, I will probably enjoy it. We had booked a guided frog tour fir our second evening in Costa Rica so that we could hopefully catch a glimpse of some of the crazy frogs we had seen photos of before our trip. Going in our expectations were fairly low, and in the beginning we didn’t get much. We walked along the trails with our flashlights looking for frogs that were nowhere to be seen and had to settle for some crickets, moths, lizards, and spiders (click to reveal) .

A cricket resting on a leaf
A beautiful moth we found on the trail. it was less than two centimeters across.
An anole watching us walk by

However, as it got darker the frogs started to show themselves. We saw a number of small brown tree frogs on various leaves before we made it to some ponds that had built in the woods to provide a habitat for some of the more interesting frogs. The highlight here was the red eyed tree frog, which was a truly striking sight.

A pair of mating red eyed tree frogs
I love the green spots on this one

After an hour and a half we made our way back to the parking lot and wrapped up the tour. In the end it was a really fun activity. I was even inspired to walk to the end of the neighborhood our Airbnb was in to do my own mini frog tour the next evening. I’m happy to report that I was able to apply my newly acquired frog spotting skills to find a couple more on my own.

I’m not sure what kind of frog this is, but he looks cozy
A savage bullfrog waiting for his dinner – another frog – to walk by

Taken 2/12/23 and 2/13/23

7/5/20 Garden in the Woods

2020 has been a strange year in so many ways. So many of my favorite activities have been curtailed. Naturally I was excited to get to return to Garden in the Woods for the first time this year. Though I missed most of the spring flowers, there were still plenty of things to take in and we spent over an hour walking the trails. As usually, there were plenty of things to see, from snakes to insects, to the beautiful trails.

After leaving the garden and taking off our masks, we hopped on our bikes and headed home. It was almost like a normal summer weekend.

6/1/20 Iris

Today I have another quick one, some pictures of a bearded iris from our yard. This was a nice surprise given that we didn’t plant this, and it usually just looks like a bunch of plain green leaves. Recently though the one bud opened up to reveal this beauty. It also appears to be home to this little spider (click to view) , who was nice enough to pose for a picture.

5/15/20 Frogs in the Yard

During a recent afternoon break from the “office” I wandered around the yard a bit. As it turns out my timing was perfect, and I happened to spot this friendly lady relaxing on the leaf of our irises. She was quite cooperative as I captured a few photos of her, and even after I scared her a bit he sat on the leaves and struck a pose for me. The green coloration was really incredible to see up close, especially with the bright sunlight.

The very next day I came across her brown friend on a nearby rhododendron. He was not as willing to take photos, but I still managed to get a pretty good shot. Despite keeping an eye out for the two of them I have not seen them again.

5/8/20 Flowers and Ants

Today I have a simple collection of photos to share, even if it is an unusual combination. Up first we have a special request from my nephew, some pictures of some ants from our yard. Then to round it out, some photos of the flowers we have seen around the neighborhood on our walks. As you can see, our neighbors’ yards and gardens are really starting to shine. I just wish our grass would keep up.

4/24/20 Macro at Home

Another day in isolation, another set of photos of things around the yard and the house. As you can see I have continued to play with the small subjects I can find nearby. This time I did a little more with the lighting and setting up a scene. Other than that though, there is not much to explain about these. Enjoy!

4/18/20 Spring Snow

The morning of the 18th of April featured a bit of a surprise this year: A coat of snow on the ground. It was particularly strange given how little snow we had during the actual winter. Of course given all of the hints of spring we had been seeing, it made for some interesting pictures that I really wanted to capture.

In addition to the snow pictures I also had another chance to work on my macro photography skills when we found a stinkbug hanging out on a chair. He or she was nice enough to model for a few photos before we released it back outside.

4/11/20 Callahan

It wasn’t too long before another good day came around and got me motivated to get out and spend some time outside again. This time, I decided that I should probably avoid the relative crowds of the sourthern part of Callahan State Park, and instead headed for the north section.

That half of the park did turn out to be quieter, but still much busier than it would normally be. In the end I managed to keep to myself pretty well. I spent a few hours wandering around, listening to podcasts, and taking pictures. I got another pretty cool photo of a spider (click to view) , as well as one of a wasp that I was particularly proud of.

Spring is definitely close, and various plants are starting to peek out. I am looking forward to the time when things really open up. Until then I’ll just have to be happy with the green on brown palette.

4/7/20 Callahan State Park

Given all the time spent at home lately, I jumped on an opportunity to take advantage of some good weather and go for a long walk in Callahan State Park. Its always nice to visit a familiar place like that and just wander around wherever you feel like it. It certainly seemed busier than I would have otherwise expected, but in the end it was still a nice quiet walk. Only a few photos this time, but more are on the way.

4/20 Macro at Home

Now that we are stuck at home, I have been experimenting with new things to keep myself occupied just like everyone else. On the photography side this has consisted of dabbling in macro photography. I started off with some familiar subjects, the flowers around the house.

As I continued to experiment, I started adding some flash to help bring out the details, and improving the compositions. I can’t say I know what any of these plants are, but I have enjoyed the color they provide around the yard.

I also spent some of the nicer days out looking for bugs more active things to photograph. These turned out to be the most fascinating subjects. It is pretty incredible to see the intricate details of these animals up close. I was able to capture some moments with various things, including this back yard spider (click to view it) .

Macro photography has turned out to be a very challenging, but also very rewarding pursuit. Hopefully you all enjoy them as well.