Wayanad Night Frog

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Wayanad Night Frog (Nyctibatrachus grandis) | Kabbinakad Hills, Kodagu district, Karnataka

This is a large night frog known from Wayanad and adjoining areas. The males of this species boldly guard their egg clutches (as this one was doing), and have been known to bite if the site is approached too closely.
This male was guarding egg clutches (presumably laid by multiple mates, as seen in night frogs) in a narrow crevice behind a small waterfall. Getting a close-up portrait was quite a task- the frog kept backing off deeper into the crevice, the angle of the built-in flash missed the target several times due to the the very narrow gap, and my lens kept getting wet with the droplets, not to mention losing my foothold on the mossy rocks.

Canon 500D, Canon 100mm Macro USM
SS 1/40
Av 14
ISO 400
Flash EC +2
Cropped from top and bottom to remove dark/OOF areas

I would have liked a little more space on the left, but this was the only decent frontal close-up I could click before the frog backed off again.

Thanks, C&C awaited.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The pose and shape has come out great. The frogs appears to be standing like a comic book monster. You did well by shooting at its eye level. Your description of this frog biting intruders goes well with the pose. Did you manage to record any vocalisation of this species? Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Thanks Sabyasachi,
Didn't manage to record the call, unfortunately. Couldn't locate a calling individual, and like many other Nyctibatrachus frogs, this one calls very infrequently (it is tough to determine the pattern and anticipate a call).

The frogs appears to be standing like a comic book monster.
Our driver who used to occasionally accompany us to the field had taken to calling them "dinosaur frogs" :D

[Abhirup Dutta Gupta]

Wonderful image..........

[Mrudul Godbole]

Lovely details. Agree with Sabyasachi, it looks like a comic book monster :). Very well captured. Thanks for sharing.

[Bibhav Behera]

The diamond shaped pupils are signature to the Nictibatrachus Genus. This is a lovely image. Love the head on view. Can't help smiling when you look at this. Thanks for Sharing.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

nice.. .like the head on pose and the grin ...:001_smile:

TFS
Roopak