Colourful Autumn Frogs. Healthy?

[JaySteel]

Thanks 'Ukwildlifeo'. I'm not going to dispute this colour variation on my frogs could be a deliberate change to aid camouflage. I'm keeping a very open mind on this subject. I'm just surprised that it is the first time I've seen this colour variation among the frogs in my garden.

Jason

[Dogghound]

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[Cordaline]

Lovely sharp shots Jason!

[Dogghound]

I dont think overwintering is becoming more common and have not noticed an increase myself. It is a relatively common phenomenon and is incredibly complex in some populations. Certainly higher altitudes, latitudes and lower nutrient levels show clear increases in overwintering metamorphs. Lowland ponds tend to have less overwintering metamorphs but other factors such as shade, competition, predation, nutrient level, ph etc can all result in lowland ponds producing more overwintering tadpoles. It tends to be much more common in newts in my experience especially palmate which breed in low nutrient acid pools (around here). It is also very common in new ponds which often lack vegetation and food. Experiments I have conducted certainly result in longer periods of metamorphosis in Rana tadpoles which receive less food than ones which receive more. I tend to find toads often complete metamorphosis within their first year rather than overwinter, which could be linked to their affinity to older more established ponds.

[domiles1]

Jason, those are the best shots of British frogs I've seen in ages! You have inspired me to get some shots before they all disappear into hibernation. So close and such great depth of field - can you tell me what lens you use?
Cheers,
Dom.

[JaySteel]

Thanks very much Dom. I appreciate your kind comments. These were shot with the Canon 40D camera and Canon 100mm L IS lens. To be honest I've found only minimal improvement on image quality since upgrading from the standard Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro lens. The settings I used for these shots were:

ISO 1600
AV mode - f/13
The camera selected 1/320 sec shutter speed.

I then used selective sharpening with Photoshop on the frogs and 'Neat Image' noise reduction software resulting in zero noise and great detail. I used a slightly blurred layer behind the image and gently erased some of the background with greater blurring effect used towards the edge of the image.

Thanks, Jason.

[jaelen]

When we cleaned out our pond in August, there were two large tadpoles still in it, (one of them was very big) and I kept them in a large fish bowl until after the pond was refilled. I did a search on this site for the difference between tad- and toadpoles, and these two both looked definitely like toadpoles... which I read can often over-winter without turning into adults.

After they were released back into the pond, I saw both of them several times, (until it went murky for a couple of weeks) and the larger one was even bigger, but I've not been able to spot them recently... am hoping they're still down there somewhere, fingers crossed!

[JaySteel]

You'll have to keep an eye out for their reappearance in the Spring. Please do let us know if and when they reappear. I'm curious to see how quickly they complete their transformation into frogs or toads once the winter comes to an end.

Jason

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by jaelen

I did a search on this site for the difference between tad- and toadpoles

Frog - mottled gold and black with a long thin tail tip.

Toad - black with a blunt rounded tail tip.