More froggy photos & blackbird song

It's hard to keep away from my little frog pond at the moment. I never know what I'll see next. Here's today's crop of photos of my little frog colony.

Firstly, what I think it a male frog, sitting among rushes by the edge of the pond. He's sat there almost all day....

Next, a frog couple, in amongst the same clump of rushes. You can see the pile of frog spawn in front of them, that's growing in size each night as couples return to lay more eggs ........

The last photo today is of what I think is another male frog, hovering above the second mat of frog spawn that's currently being laid in my pond. This one's being deposited on top of a submerged pot of waterlilies that haven't emerged yet. The frogs have chosen to site both mats in the warmer side of the pond that gets the most sun throughout the day. I have read that tadpoles develop quicker in warmer temperatures and I expect, like other eggs, hatching must also occur quicker in a warmer spot.........

It is wonderful to be able to get so close to these frogs. I've never been this close to frogs before for such a prolonged period of time. I am fascinated, amazed and quite hooked by what's going on and have to keep making trips to the bottom of my garden to see what's new.

All photos on this blog are taken with my Digital SLR Sony a100 camera which has Sigma macro lenses. I am not a photographer but this camera makes it possible for me to take good enough photos to then zoom in and crop them in Photoshop. What I find wonderful about this is that my camera catches details that I can't see with my naked eye when I'm actually taking the photo. When I zoom in on an image later, I am able to see things close-up, that I would never be able to see otherwise. It brings with it the fascination of a microscope or magnifying lens - a whole new world opens up for me of the extraordinary beauty and complexity of nature.

Blackbird Song

My sheltered garden seems to have several friendly blackbirds, male and female. They are always hopping in and out around bushes or sitting on top of the lovely old brick wall. As I knelt in the sun, weeding my garden today, the air was filled with that wonderful liquid song that blackbirds sing in Spring. I think for me it is quite the most beautiful bird song that I have ever heard. I don't know what it is about the blackbird's Spring songs, but they are so evocative, and even more so are the songs they sing in Spring after it's rained.

In my head these songs have a label: "the blackbird's liquid rainsongs" and to me, they surely belong in heaven. I wish I could have recorded the songs I heard today, to post here - plus I wish I could also take a good blackbird picture to post with today's blog. So far, my record of taking good birds pics is zero!