Where's (Blue) Waldo? (Treefrog Fever Photo Hike) (Rating: D)

You must read the following NVHC Sign-in Sheet Statement/Liability Disclaimer, https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf and then answer the question that you will see when you RSVP with "I accept" to be permitted on the hike.

(NOTE: IF 15 ATTEND, WE HAVE TO PAY $2 CASH EACH FOR THE $30 GROUP FEE. IF 11 ATTEND, IT'S FREE.)

Visit the AMAZON in our own backyard! (Kind of.) Trek 3ish flat miles along the locally famous boardwalk at Huntley Meadows Park to photograph gobs of teensy green treefrogs with sticky feet (like their famous Amazonian cousins); handsome meadow katydids with Paul Newman eyes; bold butterflies and bees feasting on wildflowers; bodacious birds, turtles, groovy grasshoppers, and much more.

The main challenge is to find these roughly 2-inch treefrogs that excel at camouflage and hiding -- but the MAIN PRIZE is finding the partially BLUE-colored green treefrog. A few were found there in 2019 and that sparked a worldwide study by iNaturalist scientists. Two or three have been found at Huntley Meadows this year.

Cell phones to fancy-schmancy cameras with long lenses (and binoculars) are welcome.

We’ll stop as much as we’ll move but we plan to complete a loop around the boardwalk and two park trails.

Hike leader is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, an award-winning nature photographer, and a green treefrog ADDICT.

TREEFROGS: What the heck is a green treefrog and how do you find them? Adults can reach 2.5 inches long but we will also see smaller ones and babies. Some look "skinny" but most look chunky. They have gold eyelids and some sport white and/or gold "racing stripes." They change color so they range from forest green to lime green to chartreuse, and even shades of brown in the autumn. PRIZES! Prize to anyone who finds an aberrantly BLUE treefrog! (They have "axanthism," an uncommon mutation that interferes with the critter's ability to produce yellow pigment.) Since these cutie-patooties hunt at night, most of them will be sleeping -- but sometimes they move around to get out of the sun. We might also meet "Scout," a gray treefrog that welcomes visitors from his hidey-hole home in a tree arching over the trail!

https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/green-treefrog/index.php

MEET: 9 a.m. at the Visitor Center. Just follow the short trail from the parking lot. Huntley Meadows Park, 3701 Lockheed Blvd. Alexandria, Virginia
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/huntley-meadows-parkhttps://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/huntley-meadows-park

IMPORTANT NOTES: Adults only and no pets, not even pet treefrogs. No tripods because they block the public boardwalk and block your fellow photographers. BATHROOMS ARE CLOSED so please use the porta potties in the parking lot.

WEATHER: Hike might be postponed if it rains. I'll post a weather update here by 5 pm on 9/17.

BRING/WEAR: Sense of humor, sense of awe, water, camera, extra battery, and memory cards. OPTIONAL: binoculars, bug spray, and sunblock.

ABERRANTLY BLUE FROGS (started because of the discovery at Neabsco!): https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/aberrantly-blue-frogs

OUR OWN BLUE AND GREEN TREEFROGS (Page 106-108):
https://virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/catesbeiana-pdf/cat44n2/cat44n2.pdf