Tadpole tales

The “amphibian pond” hastily constructed a few weeks back really had really been more of an algae and bug reservoir until a friend shared tadpoles from his winter swimming pool cover. I really wasn’t planning on moving anything in but these would otherwise be out of luck, so a few were netted and relocated to behind cohutt’s fence.

I have seen them come up for air or @ the surface in the warm sun over the last 3 weeks but thus far had no signs of “metamorphosis”.

By chance I decided to move some logs and sticks to a spot adjacent to the pond (in order to provide cover for frogs, lizards and other small critters) just before dusk yesterday evening. I noticed the “moving V” wake of miniature frog kicks in the reflection of the sky off of the pond surface and spotted this little guy getting his first done of the “above the surface” world he was about to enter:

He (or she?) is under an inch long at this point but is probably halfway to his mature size:

Note his tadpole tale is not quite reabsorbed into his frogness yet (that is a tiny duckweed leaf on his rump) :

I believe he is Hyla chrysoscelis, Copes Gray Tree Frog.