Frog Study: Blanchard's Cricket Frog

We're learning about local frogs this year, in the hope of possibly recognizing them better when we're out and about. Our State has only about 12 of them, so I've slipped them in here and there on our schedule. Today's frog is a cutie: Blanchard's Cricket Frog.

This is the first time I've done a study like this, and I'm not quite sure how to take it from our kitchen table to being able to actually being able to identify frogs when we find them next summer, but I figure the chances are better with a inexpert effort than they are if we don't try at all! So right now, we're drawing them. And listening to some YouTube recordings of their song. And that's pretty much it. Today we did Blanchard's Cricket Frog, which is a cute little thing: fits on a fingertip with plenty of room to spare.

This is the drawing from Dragon(6). In addition to learning about these cute little guys, he's also learning to see well enough to draw. I have him sit on my lap (ufta! he's not little anymore!) and help him know what to look at, and how to really see it in a way that works for drawing:

He draws a circle for the eye, which is the most prominent feature.
"Look, the eye is cool, but it's easiest to start with the outline of the whole frog, and worry about the inside details later; let's save the eyeball for last, so you can tell more easily where it belongs. Look at the frog's nose, instead. See how this part is part of a circle?" -I run a pencil along the curve of the frog's mouth, showing him the circle-
"Next to that big circle part, there's this small curve, where the other eye is hiding. See how those connect?"
"Yes."
"Do you think you can draw the big circle part and the little one? Can you see how they go?"
"Yes." And he did it pretty credibly.
"Good. Now, look, first. Put your eyes up here on the picture. See how his back goes along like this, not super round, but not quite curvy, either?"

We went along like that, trying to help him to see what he needs, and reminding him to look at the picture before he draws, and at the end, his frog is pretty credible, particularly the front half, and the front leg, which he did entirely by himself. He's making good progress with his drawings, though judging from his comments after it was done, I don't think he can see his progress, yet. Unfortunately, his nature book is lost right now, so we didn't put this in there, just on regular paper, which makes it hard to look back and see how progress really has been happening. Hopefully, we'll find it soon and tape in this drawing.

Hero(10) is well past the point where he needs me to sit and hold his hand. He's been turning out stacks of ever-improving drawings for quite a while, now, and I didn't have to do any more than just show him the frog I wanted him to observe, and let him choose which picture he was going to do; he takes care of the rest.

It's been too busy a day for me to get this drawing into my own nature book, but I'm hoping that, here in the next little bit, I can put a cute little frog in my notebook, and possibly even paint him a little to show his lovely colors. I've got a cottonwood leaf pressed in my book that I'm finishing up this evening.

Mammals and Birds and Reptiles, Oh My!

Nature Study this morning was probably our most exciting to date! We saw the most new types of animals that we've ever had in a single trip.

Things started off with a bang when we saw a Fox Snake crossing the path right as we came into the park. Turns out there's a whole mess of them that hibernate in the siding of the nature center. The gentleman we spoke to said that he has personally removed four or five from the building, and some of the other staff have also removed snakes -- and that's down from previous years, because they closed some entrances. 

It was really interesting watching him cross the road. He moved very differently on the asphalt trail, versus when he got into the brush. You can see how he's got the deep side-to-side action going on, and is the classic "S" shape snake here, but as soon as he got into the grass he straightened out a lot, and moved much more directly -- and faster. It was remarkable how well he blended in, even when moving. We sat down and put him in our nature journals quick, before our friends came. Hero has been working with the book Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain, as well as practicing drawing weapons and armor all over, and he is improving nicely. 

When our friends came, the first thing that happened is that the kids went under the tower where we usually meet - and then came running back, shouting about the critter they saw. We eventually decided it was a woodchuck moving its babies, but we didn't manage to get a picture. We also didn't get a picture of the second snake (probably a garter snake) that the kids saw. Or the critter that almost looked like a chipmunk. But I did finish my sketch of a Red Pine pinecone that I started last week. 

We also checked on the Prarie Smoke flower that one of the girls found last week. I'd like to paint that sometime, but today I just had a look. It's a cool looking flower. I was a little surprised that it hadn't progressed any further toward blooming. 

Next, we walked down toward the "Stick Shack". It's an odd little awning out in the woods - just a bit of roof on some poles, maybe 6 feet tall. Last week, that area was exciting because we found half a dozen little frogs in the puddle that has collected there. This week, we didn't stay real long: somebody built her nest right by where the kids usually play. I snuck a picture, then we took off so the poor Mama Bird could come back. We didn't see her, so we don't know what kind of nest it is. 

I was just tall enough to reach my phone over the nest for a picture, so we could spy without disturbing anything. The kids are hoping there will be a baby to spy on next week!

As if that wasn't enough, when we wandered back over toward our pond today, we saw a new bird! Took some doing to figure him out, but we ended up deciding that our new friend is a Tree Swallow. I was wishing I had brought my big camera, instead of just relying on my phone, because the little guy just sat and sat for us, preening, while my friend and I both worked to try to figure him out. 

It was a lovely day. Spring is definitely sprung! Can't wait to go back next week!

Nature Study: We Found a Pond!

I was so inspired by the pond study these guys did! The idea of going every week, always to the same place, is one that has appealed to me since she talked about her rationale for going to the same place. I think it was Angelic Scalliwags, anyway, but I can't find it on the blog this morning. But the idea was that, in going to the same place repeatedly, you get to know it in a much more intimate way. You get to know the regular critters, the usual plants, and you can see how they change over the course of a year. Things that you just can't learn in a single visit. I love that idea. So we tried a while back, but the weeds grew up around our first pond and we couldn't get to the water, so that plan fizzled after just a few weeks.

But we found a new pond. And friends to go with us. It's very exciting. 

It's only a few miles away, and it's plenty wild, so there's lots to see. It's got 2 docks, plus a small shore area, and the rest is wooded right up to the water's edge. In addition to the pond itself, there's a good size nature preserve, and a little nature center with people who Know Stuff.

Tons of wildflowers, though most have gone to seed and died back for the winter already. I was quite surprised to see these Black-eyed Susans so late in the season. They're definitely past their peak, but still so cheerful. 

It's mostly wooded, but in a few places, it opens up to some great views. 

This week, we found a frog. Again, a bit surprising for so late in the season. We've been getting frosts already. I would have guessed the frogs would have gone into hibernation or whatever it is they do; we still need to look that up. 

The green stuff on those fingers is duck weed. We asked about that last week at the nature center, and checked it out this week. They told us that it's such a desirable species that people with ponds will often plant it. Interestingly, it isn't slimy at all. Feels a lot like couscous when you touch it; it's all dry and grainy. I was pretty surprised by that. 

The kids had a good time looking the frog over. We talked about how his feet looked like tree frog feet, but we didn't have any way to identify him right there. I was amazed at how tightly he clung to our fingers! He had to be pulled off when it was time to put him back where we found him. We looked him up later and decided that he's probably a gray tree frog. 

Saw lots of these shrubby trees with berries on them. We had a conversation about how they are similar to blueberries, but not quite the same. The guy at the nature center said they're actually buckthorn, which is terribly invasive, so much so that there's a group that periodically comes to help them kill a bunch of it. So we need to do some learning about invasive species. 

This one is a maple. The maples are just amazing right now. 

The thistle are pretty well spent. But still so pretty. I was pretty surprised to see a bumblebee out so late it the season. She was definitely sluggish, like they get in the fall. 

I'm not sure what these are, but the seed pods are just so striking against those lovely yellow leaves. Autumn is so beautiful. 

And one more maple. There are do many of these around town; the whole city is just on fire with autumn maple colors. 

Over at Angelic Scalliwags, they had something of a plan as they started out. We haven't gotten so formal as that, at least not yet. But we do look things up as we're there (Hurray for little computers in the pocket!), and this week we're headed to the library to learn about tree frogs and invasive species. But for the most part, we enjoy the pond and keep an eye peeled for interesting things. Can't wait to see what our pond does next.