My previous post is a look at our backyard friend, the Rio Grande Leopard frog. He is one of two in residence at our pond.
Today, as I watched him sunning himself on a rock near the waterfall, a honeybee (with a death wish) caught my eye. Now, frogs eat flying insects, of which a bee is one. The following sequence demonstrates the rewards of patience:
Rio Grande Leopard frog, keeping a sharp eye on the honey bee, who is already tempting fate.
The bee lands on the frogs back, then walks up to between the frog’s eyes to lap up some of the water on the frog’s head. Bad idea.The bee tires of the frog and finds a small puddle of pond water to fulfill his needs. Another bad idea.
In the blink of an eye, the frog does a jump-move to line up his prey in his gunsights.
A burp of satisfaction…even with my camera in the “spray and pray” mode (shooting at 8 frames per second), the frog’s tongue and its sticky glue-like coating had the bee ingested, so fast my camera could not catch the action.
Oh, well, I think I’ll go get some lunch. Thanks for watching.
Photography and Travel, specifically adventure travel and backpacking in remote North America, give me an excuse to stay outside. If kayaks, bikes, backpacks, Jeeps, archeology, geology and wildlife can be included, all the better. Having spent my life working in the fashion and photography industries, I love the unusual, the spectacular, and the beautiful. God has given us a wonderful world in which to live, and I try to open others’ eyes to its wonders. I have shared nearly 50 years of this indescribable wonder with my wife, Jodie, and we go everywhere together. I hope you will share some of our journey with us.
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Thanks. At the rate that we are losing honey bees from the environment, I hate to see them eaten…but I think this one needed to be removed from the gene pool.
What a wonderful series you’ve presented us. Patient frog, patient photographer — and good catches for both! I love the expression on the frog’s face in that last frame. Satisfaction, indeed.
I’ve seen high-speed videos of chameleons grabbing an insect super fast. Too bad your “spray and pray” didn’t catch the prey at the split it was chomped.
Yep. Those shots usually require hours of patient footage to get one 3-second piece of usable film, and they are spectacular. I was just hoping to get lucky, but I saw the capture in real time with my eyes, and that was pretty special.
texasflashdude 
Very Good Bob. One of your best.
Peter
Thanks, Peter. Fun subjects.
Nice catch, from the frog and from you Bob !
Greetz,
Rudi
Thanks. At the rate that we are losing honey bees from the environment, I hate to see them eaten…but I think this one needed to be removed from the gene pool.
I think they have that same look when their tongue snags the wrong end of the bee.
I really have thought about that. I’m sure that there’s been a study done.
What a wonderful series you’ve presented us. Patient frog, patient photographer — and good catches for both! I love the expression on the frog’s face in that last frame. Satisfaction, indeed.
My wife said it’s the expression I have after eating one of her breakfast burritos. I say, just keep smiling, even if it stings.
I’ve seen high-speed videos of chameleons grabbing an insect super fast. Too bad your “spray and pray” didn’t catch the prey at the split it was chomped.
Yep. Those shots usually require hours of patient footage to get one 3-second piece of usable film, and they are spectacular. I was just hoping to get lucky, but I saw the capture in real time with my eyes, and that was pretty special.