Monday 13 September 2010

"Ribbit"

Going to put out the bin last night, I was ready for the sight of a large toad in the bin store and equally ready to make sure I didn't squash the poor thing under the bin's wheels. I wasn't prepared for the sight of, not a toad, but a Common Frog (Rana temporaria) sitting under the bin. It's rare to see an adult frog around these parts, and even rarer to see one of this size. At first, it stubbornly refused to turn around, so the only view I got was from behind.
It was also rather dark on the ground, in the bin store so the pictures are not as sharp as I would have liked and I didn't want to startle the poor thing with the flash.
Common Frogs are known to be able to slightly alter the shade of their colouration to assist with blending in with their surroundings. The chevron-shaped dark patch on the frog's neck is also characteristic of the species. I couldn't tell if this was a male or female frog as I couldn't see it's 'fingers'. Males have a swelling on their first finger to help them to hang on to the females. No doubt this little creature will shortly be looking for somewhere to hibernate. They usually start to find somewhere to hibernate around October.
Then, as I was thinking of leaving the frog to it's own devices, it turned to present a side-on view. What little charmer!

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