The “what is it” question

April 17, 2008

One of the most common questions I get asked is “what is it.” It seems like such a nice simple question, unfortunately it often digs far deeper than those asking me realize.

Take for example this frog I found escaping from the sun’s hot rays beneath some flowerpots on our deck. Hopefully all of you will be able to be able to agree that it is indeed a frog. Perhaps quite a few of you will note that it is a treefrog by the large “sticky” toe pads just barely visible in the picture above. Hopefully there will be at least a few of you who will recognize it right away as being a gray treefrog; a common frog found throughout the eastern US and well known for breeding in everyone’s swimming pools (which, unfortunately for it, is not to its advantage). While you would be right in saying it’s a gray treefrog, you may be surprised that I still don’t know what species this frog is. The problem is there are actually two (externally) identical species of “gray treefrogs,” Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) and Common Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor). Their ranges largely overlap and they can only be identified by their breeding call or DNA analysis (the Common Gray has twice as many chromosomes as Cope’s). Thus, this guy is one or the other but nobody can tell just by looking.

I think you are probably getting the picture -but wait it gets worse. I can remember during my undergraduate studies working at a stream with a local expert on fish identification. Our class was catching all sorts of different fish and then working to learn their proper identification. It is much harder than you might think to properly identify some of the species but I was catching on -or so I thought. One particular fish had me stumped so I asked the expert for some help and he told me seemingly without thinking “Oh, it’s just a hybrid” [yes it's true, some native species naturally hybridize].

Moral of the story: If a biologist tells you they don’t know what something is, don’t just assume they’re a pathetic excuse for a biologist. They may just be more honest than most.

Frog: Nikon D1x, Nikkor 70-300 f:4-5.6 ED

Tags: amphibians, frogs, Gray-treefrog, identification
Posted at 22:55 EDT in Biology.

When it happens

April 7, 2008

It always comes… not so much as a surprise, but more as a check point in the book of reality. The day that’s overcast, and you’re feeling ill; the day you’re complaining about shooting with a D1x and a 70-300 f:4-5.6 not a D3 and the 105 f:2.8 VR micro. It’s sure to be when the peach flowers are on the way out and the dogwoods aren’t in yet…. Just when life looks quite dull another little bit of life sheds the gloom and heads for the light. Their message is clear “get over it.”

Life’s like that sometimes -at least mine is anyway. But the truth being told, the 70-300 was pretty good lens for the job as the eggmass was above my head and it allowed me the working distance and yet focused close enough.

Perhaps this isn’t the most creative post for getting the “official” blog started [actually it isn't even open or official... yet] but hopefully it will give everyone something to read when they actually get here. [Its really boring to visit a blog's grand opening and then have nothing to read....]

Praying Mantis: Nikon D1x, Nikkor 70-300 f:4-5.6 ED

Tags: equipment, invertebrates, lens-choice
Posted at 19:40 EDT in Photography, Site notes.