Narrow-Mouthed Frog

I was hanging out with my neighbor at his place one rainy evening, when we hear several loud frog calls from a nearby stream. Upon taking a look, we spotted a pretty large frog in the shallow water.

As I didn't have my camera with me, my neighbor lent me his Nikon L110 to grab these few shots. We sneaked closer to the frog, till he hopped onto the gravel.

I haven't been able to precisely identify this frog, except that it is a species of Narrow Mouthed Frog. This can be seen from its small and pointed mouth. It could be a Jerdon's Narrow-Mouthed Frog, but that species is near threatened and only found in the evergreen forests of South India.

Big Frog, Orange Frog, Forest Frog

Unlike many other wild creatures, amphibians like frogs aren't that commonly seen in my locality nowadays, perhaps due to urbanization which has depleted their population. The only amphibians you commonly do see here are Asian Toads (they are really common) and these large frogs that spend most of their time in water.

For once I caught this guy outside after a spell of rain. Usually, these big frogs spend their entire day in my outdoor pond, and only head out at night.

The distinct yellow line that runs along its back shows that it belongs to the family of fanged frogs.

A few days back I happened to come across a new species of frog in this region - one that was brightly and beautifully coloured.

I spotted this guy one night outside my neighbor's house. I love it's colours and patterns! Bright orange back with tiny black dots, and black and white legs!

The frog was extremely friendly and allowed me to take some pretty close-up shots.

Lastly, I had come across a medium-sized frog in the Periyar Tiger Reserve. This fella was hiding in the buttress of a really large tree. I'm not exactly sure of what species this is, but it does look similar to the colourful one above.

Just Another Night Walk

I went for a small walk around my house at night hoping to spot some nocturnal creatures. I hadn't done any hunting for weeks. I came across a cute little tree frog on a really nice green fern.

While the amphibians and other nocturnal animals got up, several diurnal creatures had settled down to sleep, like this Changeable Lizard with a really, really long tail.

Tiny Froglets

I spotted these tiny frogs one wet morning on the leaves of the plant where I had released the green tree frog. I believe they are young frogs that just lost their tails as they were that tiny!

A few had a slightly different pattern and colour.

I thought that perhaps it was possible for these froglets to be the young of the Malabar Flying Frog I had released here. But there wasn't any water body nearby. Whatever they are, or wherever they came from, I was glad I could spot and photograph such tiny and cute frogs in front of my house.

Malabar Flying Frog

I happened to spot another green tree frog in my front yard, one that looked exactly like the previous one I spotted in my house. I was walking by some green shrubs when I noticed, across the leaves, a green frog with its eyes closed and dozing off.

I really like this shot!

There is a possibility that it was the same individual I spotted before, as it looked very much the same. I decided to do some research and managed to identify it as the Malabar Flying Frog. They are a common species of tree frog found mainly in the Western Ghats of India. The term flying frog is derived from the ability to break their fall in leaps by stretching the webbing between their toes.

As it became dark, he opened its eyes and became active. He hopped onto the nearby leaves while I snapped a couple of shots.

I actually got to handle this frog as it hopped onto my shoulder while I was shooting it. As I placed him back on the leaf, I realized his right front leg was holding onto my finger, as if he didn't want to let go! I saw this as a great opportunity for a fantastic photograph, and immediately grabbed a shot.

I really enjoyed this fella. He's beautiful, elegant, and not so commonly seen in these areas. Although I've met him twice already, I sure wish to see him again.

Caecilian

I set off to the same plot of land the very next day in a desperate attempt to spot and photograph a live caecilian. Since the workers managed to find 3 of them the previous day, then there should be more. I convinced the workers that they were non-venomous and harmless to humans. So as they did their work of digging and moving large rocks, I stood beside, looking out for any slithering creatures. And then, a caecilian appeared.

I quickly a snapped a few photographs, and with the help of a stick, caught it into a bottle. It was rather difficult to capture it as it easily slithered into the undergrowth. But once I got it in, I took it to an open area and opened the cap. The caecilian, having found an exit, slowly slithered out of the bottle, while I took some shots of the creature.

Very soon, it was out and trying to slither away from the open space.

As you can see from the photographs, these caecilians have a tiny eye on each side, although these are only able to differentiate between day and night, just as in the case of blind snakes. They also have a backbone, and jaws full of tiny sharp teeth. Unlike other amphibians, these rarely associate themselves with water. They spend almost their entire life underground.

Here's a video I took of the caecilian as it slithered in front of me.

I took this fella to the other side of the plot and released him into a pile of soil and stones. I was glad I finally managed to photograph a live caecilian, an amphibian that is little known of.

Green Tree Frog

There's definitely something with tree frogs and my sister. She's always the one who finds them. This time, it wasn't any tiny tree frog. This tree frog was big, and bright green! She screamed to me from the second story upon seeing the frog hopping around from wall to wall. I was really surprised to know that such frogs still exist in this continuously urbanizing area!

Probably the most green and elegant frog I've ever seen. I'd always wanted to spot and photograph a green tree frog like this, and was overjoyed it finally happened. Like the stick insect, it came looking for as well! Here's a shot of him on my hand.

I took him out into the rain and released him onto a plant for a couple of shots. I had my sister hold up the umbrella so that my camera didn't get wet!

The frog hopped onto a nearby tree, where I took one last shot of him and went back indoors. What a beautiful find. I'm glad these frogs are still able to survive and reproduce here.

Mating Toads

I went for a short night hunt around my house, together with Tiky my black dog (whom I couldn't see in the dark). What we found were two pairs of mating Asiatic Toads, and one of the pair was lying on the floor, having a great time! Is this some sort of sign of evolution?!?

And there was another couple, this pair on the move. Both the male and female were rather smaller compared to the previous pair. As you can see, the male here is a really bright yellow in colour, probably to attract females (that look really....ahem ahem).

Night Hunt

I went out for a short night hunt in the frontyard one cool night. I was expecting to find many nocturnal creatures I had yet to see, but it turned out the hunt was a rather boring one. All I managed to find were a couple of common critters. Like this katydid.

And a Two-Tailed Spider with two small legs and 6 long ones.

And nasty mosquitoes that made me wish I never went out at that point of time!

And, well, the big resident frog, who apparently was getting stung by four mosquitoes at once on his face. Zoom in and try to spot the mozzies!

I decided to retreat back indoors because of the mosquitoes.

Critters

Well, these are just a few critters I spotted one morning around my home. Frog, who already is a permanent resident in our tank.

I bet I've never managed a better photograph of a dragonfly than the one here. The image is really crisp, if you zoom in.

And, some other critters.

Turns out I'm a Nikon Guy

So..... On December 5th, 2010, at around 9.15PM, I became a proud owner of a Nikon D3100. After 3 years of pleading, my dad finally decided to get me a DSLR. Well yes, I preferred Canon much more, in fact I wanted to get a 550D, but well, my dad quickly jumped and bought this Nikon. At first I was devastated, but then I thought, Hey, maybe I got it for a reason. Maybe the Nikon chose me (or my dad chose the Nikon for me) for a reason. Maybe I'll be far better of with this D3100 than the Canon EOS 550D. Anyway, here are some shots of my new gear.

Of course, the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.

Apart from the basic 18-55mm, I also got a zoom lens, the 55-200mm f/4-5.6. It sure looks great on the camera body!

When fully extended:

Here are some sample shots I took on the first day.

So, I was glad I finally got my DSLR. And what about my old Casio EX-Z1200? It sure has served me really well for all these years, but it won't be going anywhere! Whenever I'm to go out for a shoot, I always keep it in my pocket, just in case. In some situations, believe it or not, its more useful and easy to use.