Froggy Went a Courting, He Did Ride . . .

(Unknown)

Hopkinton State Park: Annual outing of these critters by the hundreds.

The chorus is sooo loud. 

 

Red-shouldered Hawk

Buteo lineatus

Hopkinton State Park: Breakfast time! 

Downy Woodpecker

Dryobates pubescens

Hopkinton State Park: Hey! Where All The Bugs?

Great Blue Heron

Ardea herodias

Hopkinton State Park: Move On! I'm Busy.

Redtail Watching the Watchers

Redtail Hawk, Hopkinton State Park, Ashland MA, August 2016: "Come down here and say that to my face!" A short layover in a long day of soaring and looking for the last word with a murder of crows. Fat chance, but I don't blame him for trying.

Orion's Belt

Orion has returned to our skies, and winter begins to bloom.

Gray Tree Frog Pool Side

Gray Tree Frog

    (Hyla versicolor)                                  June 29, 2016

This little fellow was photographed sitting on the side of my swimming pool in Metro-west Boston. I often have six or more gray tree frogs singing around this ole watering hole at night. A small arboreal frog, native to much of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, this species has a strong voice and loves to participate in neighborhood late night croak-offs. I never get annoyed with them, and miss the chorus when they go quiet. To counter this, I've developed a pretty good mimic of their croak and use it to egg them back into song. They seem to respond positively to my participation because they always start singing again. Or, . . .  perhaps they are just complaining and asking me to be quiet so that they can go to sleep or get back to what ever it is they were up to?