exhibitions, art, science, history, museums, nature - anything/everything...

[Trust...]

Here's my frog that lives in my garden:

definitely gorgeous!  what species is this, do you know?
thanks for the pic!


i've read that many species of frogs and other amphibians are heavily declining in many places. sometimes for some unknown reasons, sometimes it could maybe be linked to the climate changes. at least around here i've noticed this to be true. frogs are not at all so common as they used to be. even in the spring (when you should be able to see masses of them, gathering to ponds and small lakes), you just didn't see them that much at all. it's a bit alarming, really.

This frog is not new here, last year we had more of them and also baby's, but now I can see only one.

[japanesebaby]

i've read that many species of frogs and other amphibians are heavily declining in many places. sometimes for some unknown reasons, sometimes it could maybe be linked to the climate changes. at least around here i've noticed this to be true. frogs are not at all so common as they used to be. even in the spring (when you should be able to see masses of them, gathering to ponds and small lakes), you just didn't see them that much at all. it's a bit alarming, really.

Very true.

http://www.javno.com/en-world/europes-frogs-and-snakes-in-danger-study-shows_259454

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/half-of-europes-frogs-face-extinction-942824.html

More than half of all amphibian species in Europe could become extinct by 2050 because of a combination of habitat loss, infectious diseases and the effects of climate change, scientists have found.

:(

[fiction]

http://www.javno.com/en-world/europes-frogs-and-snakes-in-danger-study-shows_259454

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/half-of-europes-frogs-face-extinction-942824.html

Did You notice the irony in the ad of that first link? It advertised Benvenutti python bags.

[japanesebaby]

http://www.javno.com/en-world/europes-frogs-and-snakes-in-danger-study-shows_259454

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/half-of-europes-frogs-face-extinction-942824.html

Did You notice the irony in the ad of that first link? It advertised Benvenutti python bags.

no i didn't, for me it offered 'reptile heat tape - "Safe, even, constant heat for healthy animals" among others.
the adverts change every time you visit the site/every time you hit reload, it's a typical looped thing that just automatically throws in adverts that happen to include some keywords on that site. just like on some cure sites you get these silly adverts offering you medical help for pretty much every imaginable problem, from feet fungus to... all sorts of embarrasing issues. and just because of the word "cure". some of those are really funny - sometimes i think some innocent passer-by might think that these cure fans (whatever they are) must be the most sickly kind of poor wretched people out there. :-P

[alwaysprayingforRAIN]

[ just like on some cure sites you get these silly adverts offering you medical help for pretty much every imaginable problem, from feet fungus to... all sorts of embarrasing issues. and just because of the word "cure". some of those are really funny - sometimes i think some innocent passer-by might think that these cure fans (whatever they are) must be the most sickly kind of poor wretched people out there. :-P

it happens to me all the time. and when i forget the 'the' the google results are quite stupid... nowadays there seems a cure to every problem you never had.
(i've always wanted to use that one!!!)

[japanesebaby]

He makes a lot of noise too. Maybe I can tape it, is a lossy frog-sound file possible 

ok let's hear him!
and yes, i think we are happy to accept all kinds of frog recordings, lossy or lossless - i don't think any frog recording collectors will be against it.


@fiction: i've never seen a frog like that before. i didn't know you have those in sweden.

[fiction]

@fiction: i've never seen a frog like that before. i didn't know you have those in sweden.

I´m not very good at amfibians but I know that this specie is to be found only at Utklippan (this particular picture is taken in the autumn of 2005 at Utklippan) in Sweden and sometimes extremly rarely in Skåne. I don´t know how many pairs there are at Utklippan but I know that there are many people out there checking their mating status very frequantly. Serious science my friend.

[japanesebaby]

but I know that there are many people out there checking their mating status very frequantly. Serious science my friend.

sometimes one wonders how there can be animals like frogs in some remote little islands like that. how did they end there - perhaps they were using similar kind of rafts like the belgian frog above?

[alwaysprayingforRAIN]

but I know that there are many people out there checking their mating status very frequantly. Serious science my friend.

sometimes one wonders how there can be animals like frogs in some remote little islands like that. how did they end there - perhaps they were using similar kind of rafts like the belgian frog above?

that would be cute... maybe they developed in the sea and found that island quit fitting when they decided to breath air ??

[japanesebaby]

since there's no cure shows to tape, one needs to find substitutes.
i went biking this evening: very nice evening, clearing skies after a slightly rainy day. the scent of bird cherry is almost intoxicating in the groves by the seaside. really nice.  
nightingales are suddenly everywhere this time of year, it's just a stunning display of their vocal fireworks all around in some good spots. not the best singer ever there are better and "clever" ones than him. but i really like nightingale's song and i think it deserves the fame it has. and it sings amazingly loud and strong, when you get to hear it from a close range! that gives is great quality. also, i love the rhythm and tempo changes of its song. its vigorous but not too fast.
i was standing right under the tree where one of them sang, i had my edirol recorder with me. so, since i didn't meet any frogs, here's a finnish nightingale for you:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UJ06RQW0

lineage: edirol R-09 +built-in mics - and shared in mp3s - but hey the master is of course in 48 kHz/24-bit! so just pm me if you wanna trade some lossless birdsong!!

[fiction]

sometimes one wonders how there can be animals like frogs in some remote little islands like that. how did they end there - perhaps they were using similar kind of rafts like the belgian frog above?

Well I found this pdf about the frog and its adventures at Utklippan here. I know You understand Swedish and there is a summery in English aswell. I found out the Finnish name was Viherkonna. I also found out that this is the most endangered amfibie in Sweden and it´s put up on the Red list.

See this link if You want: http://www.k.lst.se/NR/rdonlyres/88168F1A-E565-484C-A3FE-E92D2FB7383A/0/Viridis.pdf

[fiction]

not the best singer ever there are better and "clever" ones than him.

Well you know it´s his cousin, the Nightingale (luscinia megarhynchos), that sings lovely. The type of nightingale we got up here is the trush nightingale (luscinia luscinia) and unfortunatly it does not sing as melodiously as its cousin.

But I totally agrre with You. Our friend sings great and sometimes even furiously and I love the way its voice scatters the night.

[japanesebaby]

Well you know it´s his cousin, the Nightingale (luscinia megarhynchos), that sings lovely. The type of nightingale we got up here is the trush nightingale (luscinia luscinia) and unfortunatly it does not sing as melodiously as its cousin.

ahh yes, you're right. the one that fascinated mr keats
(MY heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains   
  My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,   
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains   
  One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk...)

...and all the other poets, it was/is indeed the "other" nightingale.  

but i still like our northern version.

by the way, i think this is a very nice site about finnish/scandinavian birds: -> http://www.birdphoto.fi/
(it's in english so it's easy to navigate)
there's a wide array of photos, taxonomically arranged, and you can also listen to clips of their songs while viewing the photos.

thanks for the viherkonna .pdf file. some interesting bed reading.

[fiction]

ahh yes, you're right. the one that fascinated mr keats
(MY heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains   
  My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,   
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains   
  One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk...)

Ahhh... Ode to a Nightingale. One of my favourites.

And thanx for the link. What an absolutely great logotype that looks like a wave at the same time as it looks like a bird of prey (an osprey perhaps?).

[fiction]

I got a bit inspired by the graveyard pictures at the beginning of this topic so I went out to look for the grave of our famous poet Gustav Fröding and I found it. I also found a very beauiful nature stone used as a tombstone. See for yourself.