A small, slightly battered butterfly rests on a partially burned log in the woods.
Nikon D5100 f/11 ISO 400 1/350s Nikkor 55-300@300mm – Summer 2012
One small spot of sunlight picked him out, showing his beauty against the darkness beyond.
In the middle of a drought and heat wave here in Oklahoma, the horses really appreciate their trough of water, even if the temperature is that of bath water.
Nikon D5100 f/9.5 ISO 200 1/250 sec Nikkor 55-300@120mm – Summer 2012
Crazy Horse savors each sip.
I guess I was holding still successfully enough to allow this little guy to relax.
Nikon D5100 f/16 ISO 800 1/180S Nikkor 55-300@300mm – Summer 2012
I was actually watching him, and not moving, when he began his little toady rhythm section. After my first photo I moved the camera. He instantly froze, little pouch still distended but not making music any longer. It deflated ever so slowly as he held perfectly still waiting for the danger to pass. Finally he concluded that I must have just been a bush swaying in the breeze… Well, I don’t know what he thought, but he resumed his interrupted serenade.
That stick-like object in front of him is a dry grass stalk. See how much tinier his little front legs are than the dry grass?
This puffy looking little toad was just as tiny as those in my preceding posts, but it was pudgy looking.
Nikon D5100 f/8 ISO 400 1/125s Nikkor 55-300@300mm – Summer 2012
I have speculated about it. Could it have suffered an injury, like perhaps a sting from a wasp? Has it the ability to puff up as some sort of self-protection mechanism? Or is it simply a different variety of toad? It was the only one like this I spotted, but that is the case for the tiny green and mud-colored frog from an earlier post, so it is probably not a significant fact. The toad acted pretty much like all its other minuscule cousins, so if it had sustained an injury, it did not appear to be life threatening.
This little pipsqueak of a frog would fit on your thumbnail!
Nikon D5100 f/16 ISO 800 1/350s Nikkor 55-300@300mm – Summer 2012
It saw me and was ready to leap away at any hint that I might try to eat it. By moving very slowly, I was able to focus the camera and get a couple of shots before it either moved or my eye just lost it. They are extremely hard to spot when they hold still!
Another of the many minuscule amphibians populating the pond banks.
Nikon f/5.6 ISO 800 1/250s Nikkor 55-300@300mm – Summer 2012
Notice the size of the toad in comparison to the new sprig of grass behind it. It is far smaller in life than it appears on your computer screen!
When I walk around the pond, many things move. Dragonflies zoom past, of course. Grasshoppers frantically hop out of the way, the cicadas cease their urgent buzz, water birds hurry away on whistling wings, and turtles silently submerge.
Nikon D5100 f/13 ISO 800 1/180s Nikkor 55-300@300mm – Summer 2012
But small things hop away across the mud, tiny quick-moving things. When they land, they immediately freeze and blend into their surroundings so well they can only be seen if you followed the motion with your eyes and did not look away.
What are they? I sat out on a log by the pond with my camera, watching and attempting to capture images of these small hoppers. What I caught were images of an amazing variety of teeny, tiny toads and frogs! As you can see, even cropped for maximum visibility they are extremely well camouflaged.
Depending on your perspective, what hatched out of this shell is either a menace to your life – or a beautiful, glittering bit of movement, and the shell but a small, nearly invisible bit of detritus rather than a warning of grave danger.
Nikon D5100 f/5.6 ISO 1600 1/500 s Nikkor 55-300@300 mm – Summer 2012
Something to remember; perspective is so often key to understanding 🙂
To me, these yellow flowers in the sunshine are Oklahoma in the summertime, in the early morning.
Nikon D5100 f/11 ISO 100 1/125s Nikkor 55-300@300mm – Summer 2012
Well, the case could be made that a photo of the ubiquitous dry, brown, crispy grass would be more representative of the last few summers in Oklahoma, but that is not what evokes my desire to run out the door with a camera in the early morning. So this photo of small yellow flowers stretching toward the sun, which was, in fact, taken in Oklahoma in the summertime, stands in my mind for the quintessential Oklahoma Summer Morning.
quintessential: representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class
ubiquitous: present, appearing, or found everywhere
The cats like to go out with me to take photographs, but they are ever watchful.
Nikon D5100 f/5.6 ISO 400 1/125s Nikkor 55-300@240mm – Pet Portrait, July 2012
Apparently, they are cognizant of the danger of becoming lunch for a coyote! This photo of Tiger as a watchful, intensely focused cat contrasts strongly with his usual totally laid back, flopped on his back, rag doll cat demeanor when in the house.
Back Forty 