NATURE CLICKS #472 - NORTHERN LEOPARD FROG


Northern Leopard Frog, Mississippi River, John Deere Marsh, Iowa

I will still post a few more photos from our trip in August / September but today it’s time for a picture I shot this week. It became a habit to take our little dog Cooper for a walk to one of the nature places in the neighborhood during my lunch break. This week I was twice in the John Deere Marsh, a wetland and marsh area at the confluence of the Little Maquoketa River and the mighty Mississippi. The birds didn’t cooperate on Wednesday and as we returned back to the parking lot I only had made one click of some American Coots, who slowly migrate south at the moment and spend some time in this area.

The discovery of a Northern Leopard Frog, nicely sitting on a weathered log that obviously was left from a flood of the Mississippi River some time ago, made up for the lack of birds. The blurred reeds in the background give a sense of location and the weathered, partly black and partly bleached driftwood makes some contrast to the warm colors of the Leopard Frog. Went back to the car with a smile on my face…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/500 s, f/6.3, ISO 320