Frogs Rock

Today we needed some small stones for a gardening project, so my husband raked some off of a dirt pile behind the garden shed. I had to yell, "Stop!" because I saw one of the stones move.

 Guess which one?

In the fall I like to mention that it is a good thing to leave your leaves on the ground, at least in your flowerbeds and garden if you can't bring yourself to leave them on the lawn, because there are a lot of animals that shelter in the leaf litter during the winter. It's mostly insects, but other small animals, too. Like frogs. Backyard Amphibian of the Day:

 This is a gray tree frog. It spends the summer in trees, but in the winter is gets cozy under the leaf litter. Apparently, we woke it up raking the leaves off the dirt pile to find rocks. Note the big toe pads for climbing trees. Also, it's right hand, or whatever you call it, is gripping really tight to that leaf. I picked it up to move it off the dirt pile where we were working, and it did not want to let go of that leaf.

I think it liked sitting in my gloved hand, though–it was probably warmer than the dirt pile.

 It looks an awful lot like a rock. It's a good thing I saw it move, or it would have gotten raked.

 I found out something interesting about this frog today. It has bright yellow markings on its sides and legs that you don't see when its legs are tucked up against its body.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Bee

In spite of the mild temperature (60ºF), I found very few bugs today:

 I only saw a few bees on the dandelions.

Can you see the insect here? It is very small:

 Springtail on violet

I didn't even see the insect on this dandelion when I took the picture:

 I am not even sure it is anything, but it looks a bit like a springtail.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Really uncooperative mite