Upstate New York Miscellaneous - August, 2016

[Randy]

I just wanted to post some other photos from my trip to the Ithaca area. There were other interesting things to see and do. Here are some photos of non-birds:

Eastern newt (juvenile) - there were a fair number of these little guys on the trails in the woods:



American bullfrog - native there, invasive here:



Some other frog - still trying to figure it out. Anyone know? It was maybe 3 cm in length:



Eastern painted turtle:



Anyone know what kind of butterfly this is?



Groundhog:





Of course one of the highlights for me was a tour of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology - a birder's mecca!




I'm sure some are members/subscribers to the Lab's magazine, where they have talked about this amazing mural. There is one bird from each family of birds in the world. Some extinct birds are depicted in grayscale in the background. All the birds are life size!! I had no idea an albatross was actually that big! They never look so big in the distance!

[johnjoan]

Some nice shots Randy. Glad that camera is working out for you

john

[Deleted]

Hi Randy.

Interesting photos, and a great trip report. I think your photo is actually a Green Frog rather than an American Bullfrog, as it has the dorsolateral folds or ridges along the sides of the back, which American Bullfrogs don't have. Both these species are also found here in our area (not native), but the Green Frogs don't seem to be so destructive to our native species.

The other frog photo looks like an American Toad, or possibly a Fowler's Toad. These are the only species likely to be found in NY state, I think.

The butterfly is one of the several Fritillary species, very difficult to separate, at least our numerous western species of fritillary are.

Stan

[Randy]

Thanks for the help Stan! I think I just assumed that large frog meant bullfrog. Good to know! American toad makes sense - I looked up some NY frogs and couldn't find a match

[Deleted]

I didn't notice the difference in the big frog the first time I looked through your photos either, and assumed bullfrog. They are very similar in appearance. Bullfrogs are a lot more numerous than Green frogs in most places they're found around here, so it's a reasonable assumption.

[Gord]

Randy, I thoroughly enjoyed your reports and photos. Thanks for sharing them. I intend to follow in your footsteps one day! Glad you guys had such a great time.