Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, Connecticut was a very short distance off the highway along our route from Newport, Rhode Island back to Maryland. It was well worth the stop. I’ve already highlighted the jellyfish in a post earlier this week. It’s hard to choose my other favorites from the few hours we spent at the place.

Of course there were lots of fishes.

I found myself more intrigued by the frogs. What a variety! The colorful poison dart frogs were very active in their habitat.

The freshwater turtles were active too. Some would stay on the rocks but others were constantly climbing up on to the rocks and moving around to slide back in the water much as children do if there is a poolside slide available on a hot summer day.

On particular sea turtle seemed to like the way I looked and swam back and forth in front of me - and right up to the glass! I wondered what the turtle's perception was of the situation. 

The meerkats were very active - and fun to watch. They seem to love the hammock in their habitat.

Noisy Wood Frogs in Spring

Last month I happened to walk by a pond where the Wood Frogs were having their annual orgy. It was one of the first sunny days of spring…still chilly but the sun was warming the water. The hoarse clacking sound drew my attention first; it reverberated through the vegetation around the shallow pool. As I got closer I saw that there were a lot of frogs - in the water, on the rocks.

Then I noticed the masses of frogs surrounding a female. The frogs were celebrating the warmth of the day with in a frenzy to start the next generation.

There was a couple near the orgy that seemed oblivious to the ruckus!