Is this a baby or a full grown Frog?  Anyone know the name?

Tiny Frog On Leecy's Hand

Despite the lack of pictures, I can give everyone a verbal update.

The Purple Martin babies (the original 5) all seemed to have fledged now.  There are probably 20 Martins flying around every night.  I think there may even be more babies, but when I contemplate checking the Martin house, the Martins start rioting.  I do need to check the house to make sure the original 5 are doing okay, and check the other nest boxes to make sure all is well.

I don’t see any Pipevine Caterpillars, but I do see a few Chrysalises along the edge of the house between the roof and brick.

The single Monarch that I saw a couple of weeks ago laying eggs has not returned, nor have I seen any Caterpillars from her egg laying.  Leecy and I have been collecting the Milkweed seeds like crazy.  She actually created this cute little seed packet and information card and was giving some seeds to our friends and colleagues.  If we end up having more seeds then we know what to do with, I may offer a first come, first serve type thing for whoever needs some.  There’s no way we could plant all of them and I have a pretty big back yard.  If you’re really desperate for some Milkweed seeds (Mexican Milkweed) then let me know.

MJ, the big female Bullfrog hasn’t been seen in weeks.  I can’t remember if she goes off somewhere in the Summer or if she might be just laying low somewhere in the ground trying to stay cool and moist.  We’ve had very little rain so far this year and I wonder if that makes an impact?

Speaking of Frogs, they are creating quite a chorus at night.  There’s normally a little green Tree Frog on the kitchen window every night.  If we could actually get some decent rain I bet many of them would head over to the Pond to do some mating.

The cute little Red Eared Slider that I found in the Pond a few weeks back hasn’t been seen recently.  The Koi are too small to eat the Turtle and I don’t have any predatory birds around the Pond, so I’m not sure what happened to the little thing.

The Box Turtle that the neighbors brought to my house was released back into the wild behind my house.  There’s lots of vegetation and protective cover back there.

We seen quite a few Giant Swallowtail Butterflies flying around and occasionally laying eggs on the Orange tree, but damn if we ever see the Caterpillars.  I don’t know if some insect is getting to them, or the birds, or what.

Once again, we have some Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillars.  We did have 1 Caterpillar a few weeks ago, but like many things, it also disappeared before it got very big.  It was on the Spicebush plant.  Today we counted 7 Spicebush Caterpillars and some of them are on the Sassafras plant, some on the Spicebush.  They are really tiny.

We have lots of Songbirds (Cardinals, Doves, Blue Jays, Woodpeckers, Mockingbirds) right now and they are eating lots of bird seed.  They also are starting to eat some Tomatoes, Grapes, and Blueberries.  Just once I would actually like to be able to taste one of the Grapes we have each year.  I’m too afraid to put a net on the plants as I don’t want one of the birds to get entangled in the net.  There is also a single Male Ruby Throated Hummingbird hanging around.  It’s been typically avoiding any feeders and going directly to the plants for nectar.

Plant-wise it’s just a jungle in the backyard.  The vegetable garden is being taken over by the Cherry Tomatoes. We pick close to a dozen of them every night.  Oh, we also have a Turnip in the garden.  The problem is we didn’t plant any Turnips.  I’m going to guess this is like last year when we had all these Cantaloupes we didn’t plant.  It’s my guess that those lovely bird poops turn into a plant occasionally.

The rescued Kitten we adopted (Delilah) is growing like a weed (to me).  Leecy asks me every night if I can tell how much bigger she has become.  I just offer the “head bob” and the “of course, Honey” when she asks.  The kitten really likes to play with Chloe (the other cat) and to nap near the dogs.  The only interaction I’m not quite comfortable with is Delilah and Coco (African Grey Parrot). I can’t tell if Delilah wants to play with her or eat her so I need to work with both of them on that.

Last but not least, the reason for my delay in posting is because we got a new TV and entertainment system. On just the 2nd day I had the TV the high definition channels wouldn’t work so I immediately called Comcast to tell them where was a problem as I was looking forward to seeing the Three Stooges in high definition.  The person at Comcast thought I was crazy for calling at 6 am to report that kind of outage:-)

The confusion in naming was due to my lack of knowledge on how to distinguish male and female Bullfrogs.  I think I understand how to tell the difference now.  This one is definitely female.  It’s the same one that has been hanging around for the past 4 years.

American Bullfrog Climbing Rocks

And guess what!  Remember how a few posts back that I mentioned that MJ Frog has never had a mate, and I have never seen a male Bullfrog hanging around?

Well we now have a big ol American Male Bullfrog.  Compared to MJ, he’s even bigger.  Whereas MJ tends to hang out in the pool, Bob (the male) hangs out in my pond.  I think Bob also attacked one of my Goldfish in the pond as well (it died).

The good news about both a male and female Bullfrog around is that should help keep the insects down around the pond and the pool.  The bad news, is Bullfrogs are notoriously voracious eaters, so if Bob decides to start eating fish, he can pretty much eat all of my Goldfish in the pond.  The Koi are too large, so I don’t think he can bother them.

Here’s another shot of MJ showing her alluring eyes.

American Bullfrog Focus On Eyes

Leecy was going to get our empty plastic potting buckets when she noticed something a little strange.  She yells at me like I did her yesterday regarding the injured Purple Martin.

She says, “LOOK” and I look at this bucket she is holding and there is a Toad butt hanging out.

Toad Butt Hanging Out Of Bucket

Now you can’t tell from the above picture, but this was a big fat toad, and he somehow got stuck in this bucket.  Personally I don’t see how he even stuck his head through the small hole.

Toad Stuck In Bucket

Look at the above picture, and the small hole in the left hand corner.  Now look at the size of this Toad.  Okay, now explain to me how the heck this Toad even got close to being stuck in this bucket.  That’s like me trying to get my big ol butt in a pair of Leecy’s pants.  It ain’t gonna happen.

So what we did is we misted him with some water at first, since we had no idea how long he had been stuck.  Then we slowly started cutting around the hole that the Toad was stuck in until he was free.

Toad Is Free After Being Stuck In Bucket

Then, of course Leecy had to hold the Toad for a quick picture before he was released back in the garden.

Doesn’t he look thrilled?

Update:  I’m classifying this as a Gulf Coast Toad, but apparently there’s some discrepancy between a Gulf Coast Toad (Bufo Valliceps) and a Coastal Plain Toad (Bufo Nebulifer).  I tried to research how to identify the difference between the two and I can’t figure it out.  If someone can educate me, I’d appreciate it.

Before I post the pictures, let me share some information that I just recently read and some personal experience.  I read in one location that the average lifespan of an American Bullfrog is about 4-5 years, some rarely until 6 years.  On another source it says they live typically 7-16 years.  Does that mean this might be the last year I would see Michael J. Frog?  I hope not.  I consider him such a constant source all through the Spring, Summer, and Fall that I would hate not seeing him anymore.

In all honesty, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen him this year.  I actually have seen him in my pond over the last few weeks underwater, and the water has been pretty cold. I’ve never found him burrowing any specific place during the winter months.  Then again, I’ve never seen him mate or sing to attract females.

Here’s something else a little interesting.  Once he commits to the pool, even if I take him back over to the pond, he will return in a matter of minutes.  That makes me wonder why the salt water pool doesn’t bother him?  Perhaps it’s just like brackish water or something?

Michael’s daily ritual is to float around one of the pool skimmers all night until about 10am.  After that, he tends to move to the shelter under one of the waterfall rocks.

One of my goals this year for Michael would be to get a get shot of him eating something.  Right now, he looks a bit thinner than I remember him, particularly towards his back side.

So without further adieu, here is the return of Michael J. Frog once again.

American Bullfrog First Appearance 2010

American Bullfrog Looking Skinny 2010

Update:  It’s been pointed out to me that Michael is actually a Michelle.  So I guess from now on it’s Michelle J. Frog

This is the first shot I’ve been able to take of him with the 7D.  I definitely think there is more detail in this camera.  You can even see the veins in his eyes (click on the picture to see up close).

American Bullfrog 7D

Ordinarily, Michael J. hides during the day, but today was different.  He dove in the pool early this morning while I was out taking pictures.  He then either tried to hide from me, or decided it was getting too hot already and needed a place to shelter from the sun.

Michael J Frog Hiding

I’m going to try the early morning Saturday ritual and get some pictures. It’s supposed to be really hot and humid tomorrow so I’m sure I’ll be sweating like a pig.  It’s so humid here, especially in the morning, that I have to take my camera outside 30 minutes before I shoot just to let the lenses defog.

There is one image I’m hoping to capture.  We have a Woodpecker, but it has a completely white head.  I’m not sure if that means it’s a young Woodpecker or some albino type thing.  I saw it for the first time this afternoon.

Tonight Leecy and I saw Michael J. Frog for the first time in weeks.  I guess the one and a half inches of rain brought him out from wherever he’s been hiding.  As usual, he was in the pool.

Something I almost forgot. We had a little scare earlier in the week.  Back on Sunday I guess it was, I asked Leecy to trim Maggie’s back legs just a bit.  That was a mistake.  Leecy trimmed one side almost to the skin, but left the other side noticeably longer.  Not wanting Maggie to look like a complete freak, I brought out the clippers to give her an even trim.  It was then that Leecy and I noticed that Maggie had this 2 inch lump just below her rib cage.  That scared me, so the next morning I called the vet to bring both Maggie and Sascha in for their yearly checkup.

Well, leave it to Leecy to freak me out some more.  The next night when we were placing Coco’s cover on her cage, Leecy says to Coco, “Say A Prayer for Maggie, Coco.”  I look at her (Leecy) and asked why she said that.  I knew what Leecy was thinking (cancer), but I was purposely trying not to think too negative.  However, after that comment to Coco, I decided to call the vet the next morning and see if we could bring Maggie in later that afternoon.

We did end up taking Maggie to the vet the next day for a thorough exam.  The vet said that the lump was just a “fatty deposit” and nothing to worry about.  He said her teeth were immaculate.  However, she did have a yeast infection in her ears (not too uncommon for a floppy eared dog).  And, last but not least, Maggie weighed almost 60 pounds.  I almost fell over when I heard that as Maggie has never weighed that much in her life.  A gave a quick scowl to Leecy for making me, Maggie, Sascha, and Chloe all fat.  We also did a comprehensive blood work exam since Maggie is now 8 years old and considered “senior.”  One last thing.  Maggie apparently does not like going to the vet anymore.  She acted freaked out the whole time, which is highly unusual for her anywhere else.  You would have thought she’d been traumatized at the vet based on how she acted.  I guess as she gets older, the vet seems more scary.

Now fast forward to Friday for Sascha’s appointment.  Sascha, the dog with limitless energy, was the perfect calm patient.  Confidently walked into the vet, greeted everyone appropriately, sat down perfectly when necessary, and let the vet poke and prod her for the exam.  She didn’t even flinch when they checked her ears (she doesn’t even like her ears getting wet, much less someone sticking their fingers inside them).  Sascha now weighs 75 pounds and other than that, had perfect health.  Teeth, like Maggie’s, were immaculate.

At the end of the visit today they reviewed Maggie’s blood tests with me.  Everything was normal and looking good.  No cause for concern.