"Be kind and tender to the Frog"

About a month ago, I came across this little frog in some pools in the countryside near Seva. I think that it is a Perez's frog also known as an Iberian green frog (Pelophylax perezi). I am not entirely confident with this identification because most of the images I have seen on the Internet are of adult frogs and this one was clearly a froglet.

Perez's Frog / Granota verda (Pelophylax perezi)

I find small frogs incredibly endearing, cute even, but, I must admit that, when they get older, I have a slight phobia of them. I'm not sure where this fear comes from - did a frog leap at me when I was younger? Such fears are unfounded and, perhaps, it is wise to heed the words of Hilaire Belloc in his poem about this amphibian.

The Frog 

by Hilaire Belloc

Be kind and tender to the Frog,

And do not call him names,

As 'Slimy skin', or 'Polly-wog',

Or likewise 'Ugly James',

Or 'Gap-a-grin', or 'Toad-gone-wrong',

Or 'Billy Bandy-knees':

The Frog is justly sensitive

To epithets like these. 

No animal will more repay

A treatment kind and fair;

At least so lonely people say 

Who keep a frog (and, by the way,

They are extremely rare).

When the river runs high

I love it when, after some heavy rain, the river is high. Last week, I took this photo on my favourite stretch of river between La Garriga and El Figaró.

Minstrel bugs

This is not a great photo because I took it on my phone, but I want to share it because I think that these little insects, which are known as Minstrel Bugs or Italian Striped Bugs, are really rather stunning.

Minstrel Bug / Bernat Vermell (Graphosoma lineatum italicum)