Jeremiah Was A Columbia Spotted Frog

Day 228 (another special!): On my first circuit of the pond in Cochrane Park, I ran into a little girl with a net who was searching for frogs. As I was talking to her, her brother yelled out, "You gotta see this! It's huge!" By the time the three of us had stormed into the cattails, Frog had taken a powder. The kids went home and I continued on my circumlocution.

A quarter of the way around the loop, I stepped off the trail intending to go in amongst the reeds. My heavy tread startled another frog basking on the bank, so effectively camouflaged that I had not spotted it. Obviously, frog-chasing was going to take more finesse than I'd been using. Opposite the first frog non-sighting, I again entered the cattails by means of a series of large rocks. Again, I heard a splash without seeing the frog. Drat.

By the time I got back to the original spot where the kids had seen their huge frog, it had come out of hiding. I tried to creep up on it carefully. I didn't succeed, but I stopped well short of the second location and managed this capture of what I believe is a Columbia Spotted Frog.

Emboldened by my success, I made several more circuits of the pond, each with the same result. I'd spot a frog in one of the known hangouts, only to have it leap into the water before I could get it in the viewfinder. I am really going to have to hone up my frog-stalking skills.