Green Tree Frog Excursion

The Green Tree Frog Excursion 2007 Crew. Thanks for all your help and see you in 2008! (click to enlarge images)
Perfect camouflage.	Don't move or I'll jump!
Northern Water Snake hunting for food. See a video about the Water Snake.
Northern Water Snake in its blue phase, which means it is about to shed. Snakes shed to get rid of parasites and mend injuries.	Releasing this beautiful Northern Water Snake is as much fun as finding it. Water Snakes are often killed by people who incorrectly identify them as Copperheads.
Seining is another way of monitoring the health of a body of water. The health of a habitat can be revealed by the creatures that live in it. Minnows and Sunfish were caught here and then released.

In July, the Green Tree Frog Excursion 2007 Crew met at Mason Neck Park to look for these awesome amphibians. Green tree frogs are usually bright green with a white stripe along their side. They like swamps, borders of lakes and streams, floating vegetation and they rely on camouflage to hunt and to hide from predators. They eat insects and have a call that sounds like queenk-queenk-queenk. These frogs are thought to be predictors of the weather because they call when it is very humid out. Humidity usually increases before a shower and so their call can mean that rain is coming.

Other Species Observed:

Amphibians

• American Bullfrog
• American Toads

Reptiles

• Snapping Turtles
• Eastern Painted Turtle
• Five Lined Skink
• Broad-Headed Skink
• Northern Water Snake

Birds

• Bald Eagle
• Green Heron
• Oven Bird
• Common Yellow Throat
• Blue Bird
• Tree Swallow
• Chipping Sparrow