Last week's amphibians...

[Sushigaijin]

Spring is in full-swing in Chicagoland. A few hours in the field on march 15 yielded a half dozen garter snakes, a dozen or so blue-spotted salamanders, a half dozen spotted salamanders and the usual suspect frogs. All with the E3 and 50mm f/2 macro.

Spotted salamanders. These are very sensitive to habitat destruction and are not common in Chicago. Not necessarily uncommon, but not common. Where you find them, you often find a lot and it indicates a pond of decent quality.



Chorus frogs. These sound like dragging a fingernail across the teeth of a comb. In good fishless ponds, the sound can be deafening.



Spring peepers. Usually the first frogs to emerge, they sound a bit like a really mad cat. They too can be extremely loud.



And a parting shot of a cool snail cruising around in the pond just riding the surface tension.

[SARtech]

Cool shots! I've not seen any of those salamanders here where I shoot the other stuff. There are frogs and they are LOUD! I try to sneak up on them, but I hear them plop back into the water and I can't see any.

[scott-devon]

Ahhh good to see these, I always enjoy your snakes, lizards etc. I'll look forward to seeing more now that your season has begun.

[Knight]

Nice captures Sushigaijin , do snails really swim like that or is this one having a bit of bad luck .

[paulnj]

very nice finds Erik.

[Sushigaijin]

Nice captures Sushigaijin , do snails really swim like that or is this one having a bit of bad luck .

Even better - that snail is WALKING on the surface tension, from beneath.

And thanks, to the rest!