Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)
This is a pair of Six-spotted Tiger Beetles (Cicindela sexguttata) I saw on the concrete slab outside my garage’s back door this afternoon. Yes, beetle porn (sorry). You can see three of the six spots on the male. The other three would be on his starboard side. I think these beetles are pretty cool, and I love their green. I uploaded a higher resolution version of this to the Wikimedia Commons. It’s not a bad photograph!
I saw this American toad (Bufo americanus) a little later.
American Toad (Bufo americanus)
He (or she, I can’t tell) did not want to be photographed, which made it pretty hard to get a decent close up. I was on my hands an knees trying to get close, and it would just hop away as soon as I got too close. I chased it for a little while. A couple of times I tried extending my arm towards it (camera in hand), and it did seem less threatened by that (vs my whole body coming closer). But I lack the skill necessary to steady an extended arm, so those shots all came out blurry (and were consigned to the trash bin). Flash helped, but I don’t like to use it for closeups, as it tends to overdo it. Not this time though. I guess. This photo has the flash enabled.
Jomegat's Weblog 
May 22, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Love the color of the beetles–the same rich hue is found in peacock feathers. You know what is cute about toads? Their little fat legs and how they fold up. Just the cutest.
Congratulations on your persevering and crawling around to get these beautiful shots. I do like them.
May 22, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Thanks for the kind words. Toads also have a tendency to flatten themselves when cornered. This one today did, and I had a much smaller one react that way earlier this week. I didn’t take the picture then because I didn’t like the pose! Older toads seem to not be as bothered by the paparazzi. I have some really decent shots of an older toad (same species) that I took last year. He gave me a really nice shot of the sole of his foot. But that was with an older camera with fewer pixels available. I’d like to get another shot like that with this camera, as it has a really superb macro lens for some insane close-ups.