Fun with Frogs

Forest tree frog, Leptopelis natalensis

Another pic from the past. We are often in search of wildlife in the most far flung reaches of the continent yet miss the remarkable beauty right on our doorstep. Last summer we were blessed with wonderful rains and although this is the time many photographers put their cameras away there are indeed a very interesting suite of animals that emerge during such conditions. Frogs! Judging by their raucous cacophony one would imagine them to be easy to locate yet these tiny, nocturnal amphibians are easily overlooked. Such was the case a while ago when visiting family in Durban, I went on nightly sprees to look for these beasties only to return night after night frogless. I would move towards a specific call yet time and again as soon as I am close enough the calling would stop and the caller mysteriously disappear. I eventually gave up until the last evening of our stay when we located one in the garden of a complete stranger. Looking at the picture now, one can be forgiven for thinking that it originated in some exotic tropical forest and not slap bang in the middle of suburbia.