At a public launch people sometimes toss balls into the lake for their dogs to chase. Some balls are lost. Apparently these American Toads are convinced that the tennis ball is a female.
Toads are largely terrestrial and generally a woodland species, but every year toads come down to water in very early spring to mate. The males arrive in the water first and begin trilling for the females to come. And they do. I was fortunate to be at one of the ponds on the cold April day that they began mating. And the water they are in is close to 32 degrees F.
NIKON D500 200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6 lens 360mm f/8.0 1/750s 500 ISO +0.7 EV
NIKON D500 200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6 lens 380mm f/8.0 1/500s 500 ISO +0.7 EV
NIKON D500 200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6 lens 290mm f/8.0 1/500s 500 ISO +0.7 EV
NIKON D500 200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6 lens 330mm f/8.0 1/500s 640 ISO +0.7 EV
