Nikki's Photography

Every place has its own unique beauty and seasonal quirks. Here on the west coast, the Pacific Chorus Frogs‘croaks are incredibly loud during late winter / early Spring when the climate is gradually warming but still cool and wet….loud in a good way though.  This one was in an overturned plant pot. Apparently the croaking is not always about mating, but is also a territorial thing. It’s so nice falling asleep to thousands of frogs croaking, unless maybe, if they are directly in your back yard river or pond, where it probably takes a while to get to sleep. It simply takes one frog to start, then within a minute hundreds have joined in, and each one has its own tone. It’s amazing!

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Frog and spider in my back yard pond, Lewisville, Texas

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…The Good: A beautiful orange flowering plant called a Sun Star. All the little unexpected surprises, like this toad that I never would have seen if it had not popped out of the hole at the exact moment I happened to be looking there. The clay container with a hole in the center is designed to coil and contain garden hose, but being used as a plant pot. The Bad: having no choice about mowing the lawn on a 98*F day, and keeping edges formally trimmed because the neighbors have it that way. Also Bad: Fire ants that bite before you know you’re standing on a nest with bare feet……but Good: Fire ants keep the tough Texas soil aerated. The Ugly: me with ant-bite blisters, taking photos, mowing and edging the lawn on a 98*F day.

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Toad in the garden