Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: toad

I took about a dozen pictures of me holding the toad I rescued, and this one was really fun because one of his "hands" was right on my opal ring, which I thought was so cute that I had to share this cropped image with the world! I adore frogs and toads, and this sure looks like a wedding picture, doesn't it?! :D

1 extra picture is in a note on the image! A couple of weeks ago I shared a picture of a toad that lives next to Lucky's Pond. When I first saw it that morning, it was taking a bath in the pond, and when I came along, it pretended to be a lumpy rock in the pond. However, when I got back with my camera, it had jumped out and was in its sleeping spot, where I took its picture. TODAY, however, I had my camera with me when I noticed the toad playing scrub-a-dub in the pond, and I was able to get this picture to show all of you, complete with reflections of the toad, the sky and clouds too! And if you look carefully, you'll see the reflection of ME in its eye as I took the picture!! John Anthony Burgess Wilson, FRSL (25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English writer. From relatively modest beginnings in a Manchester Catholic family in the North of England, he eventually became one of the best known English literary figures of the latter half of the twentieth century. Wikipedia: Anthony Burgess Explored on June 24, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

This morning I went out to water my bulb and flower garden in the front yard, and now that it's starting to get hot, I've been adding water to Lucky's Pond almost every day as well. However, this morning I was about to turn the hose on when I noticed an enormous TOAD in the middle of Lucky's Pond! He sat there with his eyes just above the water, still as a statue! I didn't have my camera with me and when I came out again, the toad had hopped out, booooooo!! However, I thought I might know where it had gone, so I quietly peeked into the weeds where I saw a smaller toad last year. DISCO!! There, snuggled down into a depression in the dirt next to Lucky's Pond was the toad! It sat, still as a stone, and I could almost hear it in my mind..."I am a rock....I am just some lumps of dirt...nothing to see here...move along..." :D Moving very, very slowly, I held the grass and weeds out of the way with one hand so I could take pictures with the other! What fun!! After I got half a dozen images, I carefully pushed the grass and weeds back to cover him up and left as silently as I could. I also got a close-up of his eye, which I've included today, as well as another picture from my garden photo shoot over at my friend's home last week! :) Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise centered on a film series created by George Lucas. The film series has spawned an extensive media franchise called the Expanded Universe including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books. These supplements to the two film trilogies have resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe. These media kept the franchise active in the interim between the film trilogies. The franchise depicts a galaxy described as far, far away in the distant past, and it commonly portrays Jedi as a representation of good, in conflict with the Sith, their evil counterpart. Their weapon of choice, the lightsaber, is commonly recognized in popular culture. The fictional universe also contains many themes, especially influences of philosophy and religion. Wikipedia: Star Wars

Take a look at that crazy ridge over this toad's eye! I never noticed that they could be so prominent, how cool!! I have always loved amphibian eyes with their metallic coloration and amazing patterns! This one looks like it's filled with flecks of gold! Stunning!!

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been crazy about frogs and toads! I think they are absolutely adorable! So living up here in the rural countryside, I am overjoyed that I get to see these guys almost every day! YAY! We have tree frogs appearing on the walls of our house and shop, pollywogs (tadpoles) in our seasonal pond, and at night I usually see at least one toad hopping around when I go out! I've been wanting to get a picture but setting up the flash attachment for night shots had been too much bother when I'm just about to dive into bed at night. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see this miniature sumo wrestler outside our shop one morning! I took one look, turned around and raced back to the house for the camera, hoping my buddy would still be there when I got back two minutes later. YAY!! I was so happy to get some pictures, isn't this toad fabulous?!! Oregon has three native toads, and this is the most common type, the Western Toad. In low elevations (we're at 1500 feet) these guys are nocturnal, so I was lucky to see this cutie pie before it returned to its den, which can be under a rock, log, stump, or in a rodent burrow. In higher elevations or more humid conditions, these toads are diurnal , or active during the day. Like other amphibians and also reptiles, toads regulate their temperature by basking in the sun, like this one is doing. Males and females appear different: male Western Toads are fairly smooth without many bumps, so this is a female! :D She likes to eat insects and spiders, and she'd also eat crayfish if we were near a river! I also found out that mature Western Toads have an obvious dorsal line down their backbone, and she doesn't have one, so she's less than three years old. Finally, I will admit that I love to gently pet toads that I find, but I'm careful to wash my hands afterwards: their skin contains toxins which keep them safe from most predators! :) If you would like to know more about Western Toads, Wiki has a great page here: Wiki: Western Toad This image was taken in May, 2012.

A couple of days ago I showed off a picture of a Western Toad which was basking in front of the door to our shop. I took lots of pictures, and I hoped to get some good closeups of its eye because I find frog and toad eyes to be very beautiful. When I took a look at my images, I got to this one and yelled, "HEY!! IT'S ME!!" How cool is that...a reflection of me in the eye of such a beautiful creature. I am lucky indeed! I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! www.flickr.com/people/sfhipchick/ This image was taken in May, 2012.