sunswimer02

lol Awesome timing. Hilarious.

Well...I disagree with JacobMcelligott that most frogs are not that small (in fact a lot of frogs are that small or smaller), but it is a toad, and the reason is that is a cranial crest and perotoid glands. I can't tell you what species, but I'd start looking through the Bufonidae family.

Gatorfellows, hope you enjoy your trip down here and have fun!

Well...I will weigh in and let you guys know that I work for the FWS at Aransas NWR (where the only wild flock of whoopers winters) and confirm gatorfellows and garysmith2's comments. Whooping cranes are still endangered, there're about 300 in the wild flock. It is extremely illegal to shoot one. And in fact we dont allow sandhill crane hunting south of Hwy 77 to help us prevent any mistakes. In person, if you ever see a whooper, you'll know right off it's not a sandhill. Obviously its a big white bird. They look completely different.

Ha, I live right around the corner from where you spotted these guys lol.

I'm actually doing my project on forest bats. It's going to be exciting! My sites are all on Refuges so it'll be nice to stay with the family (so to say). No Indiana bats, but we might get some of Raf's big-eared bats.

Hey! I wouldn't say "often" but every year in October I do about a week of searching to collect herps for a display table during our Refuge Week, and I have been able to find one for the past 3 years. Whenever I'm not really looking for them, I tend to see them crossing roads or escaping an Rx burn.
I would say that if you want to spend some time somewhere that's its more likely, see if you can hitch a ride over to Matagorda Island and take a bike with you. Just ride down middle road, and I would say that would be your most likely chance of finding one with the least amount of effort. Also, you'll see a bunch of other cool animals really easily. The hardest part is getting a ride to MI (since there aren't any bridges, you have to go by boat, and there isn't a public ferry). But if you can get there, it's worth it. I'm actually going to be working on my own grad project this summer, so I wont be at Aransas...

Yea, I was surprised when I found these two. I suppose they could be doing something other than mating...but I was afraid to disturb them by sticking around.

Ahh I get it. Ok. In it goes then, do you mind if I put a bunch more in? Most of the pics I've taken in the past 2-3 years are from Aransas.

Ashey, these were not spotted in a state park. They're within the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, which is why I put them in that wildlife refuge mission. I tried looking for a mission that fit Refuges in TX, but I didnt find one. I've been trying to convince ANWR to create our own mission, but we haven't done it yet. I'll take it out of the mission, but I'm not going to put it in the state parks mission.