David Mathre Photography

Amphibians and Reptiles

  • Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    How many frogs can you see in this time-lapse video. I set up a camera early in the morning to record the opening of three Water Lily flowers. The camera took images every 6 seconds. The images were processed with Capture One Pro and the time-lapse video created using Photoshop. When I reviewed the images I noticed several small frogs, and one larger frog. In addition, there is some type of a Walking Stick insect that shows up in the center for a short bit.

    Time-lapse video of Water Lily flowers opening. Images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 500 mm f/5.6 lens (ISO 200, f/16, 1/125 sec) every 6 seconds from 07:30 to 15:45.

    2 responses to “Frogs on Water Lily Pads (06-June-2025)”

    1. Khürt Williams Avatar
      Khürt Williams

      This is such a peaceful little world you’ve captured—watching the lilies bloom felt meditative, and spotting those tiny frogs made me smile.

      Reply
      1. David Mathre Avatar
        David Mathre

        Three more Water Lilly flowers were open today, and it looks like there will be several more. djm

        Reply

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  • Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    As I went to take the trash out, I found this little Eastern Gray Tree Frog (Dryophytes versicolor) waiting at my front door. The door light was on and probably attracting insects for its dinner. I’ve heard the tree frogs singing outside my window every night but haven’t seen one to capture an image. This one stayed long enough for me to get a camera, but didn’t like the flash from the paparazzi.

    Eastern Gray Tree Frog (Dryophytes versicolor). Springtime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens.

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  • Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey

    I finally got a picture of one of the frogs in my back pond. The frogs are very wary and jump into the water as soon as they see any motion. Even at a distance. Probably because there has been a Great Blue Heron feeding on the frogs in the pond. I got this image shooting through some Cattails that have started growing along the edge of the pond. I am not sure if this is a Green Frog, or an American Bull Frog. I’ll have to wait until I get some better images.

    Wary frog in my back pond. Image taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 100-400 mm VR lens

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  • Fourteen-years ago today. Semester at Sea Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage

    Blue Jeans Poison-Dart Frog (Oophaga pumilio). As part of a field trip to the Arenal volcano we went for a hike in a Costa Rican rain forest. I noticed something bright red at the side of the trail that turned out to be a poison-dart frog. They have these bright colors to let the other critters in the rain forest know that they are poisonous and wouldn’t make a good meal. While in graduate school, one of the other students in the group was working on the synthesis of a poison-dart frog toxin. The frog is also known as a Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog.

    Mr. Blue Jeans Poison Frog. Costa Rica Rain Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 10000, 300 mm f/5.6, 1/250 sec).
    Blue Jeans Poison-Dart Frog. Costa Rica Rain Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 10000, 300 mm f/5.6, 1/250 sec).

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