Playground Frogs

Thomas J. Cuite Park
Windsor Terrace Brooklyn

Two years ago, I posted pictures of these frogs, which had become fairly derelict.  This year, someone has given them polka dots.

Frogs of the Times

New Frog Species Discovered on Staten Island

I've decided to add a new feature to the blog called "Frogs of the Times"--the New York Times, that is.  From time to time the paper of record decides to report on things herpetological.

This article was published almost exactly a year ago and recounts the discovery of a new species of frog on Staten Island.  Yes, Staten Island.  As the reporter explains, most species are discovered in remote and unpopulated areas, but not this time.  The new frog had probably been seen and heard by thousands of people who didn't realize what they were looking at.  The croak, as the article explains, gave it away.

Picture from the New York Times

Playground Frogs

Heritage Row Playground (Pulaski Playground)
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Named for Heritage Row Houses across the street, a Habitat for Humanity project, Heritage Row Playground is part of the larger Pulaski Playground.

Playground Frogs

Marcy Playground
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Marcy Playground was named for William Learned Marcy (1786-1857), a governor of New York, Secretary of War under President James K. Polk and Secretary of State under President Franklin Pierce.  The original playground was located about a block away and was dedicated to Samuel Crews, a WWI veteran; the original flagpole was moved with the park.  Today, it's part of the Marcy Houses development.

                           

Playground Frogs

McCarren Park
Williamsburg, Brooklyn


Named after Patrick Henry McCarren (1847-1909), a State Assemblyman and gambler, McCarren Park (formerly Greenpoint park) was a "community showpiece" in the early 20th century with a 1/4-mile track, a field that could be converted to an ice rink, playgrounds, sports fields, and a farm garden for children.  During the Great Depression, the WPA built McCarren Park Pool (one of eleven in the city); it can hold up to 6800 people.  The pool closed in 1984 and reopened in 2012.  These frogs are in the playground adjacent to the pool.  They've seen better days . . .

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I looked around on Flickr and found a couple of pictures of these frogs from 2009, when they were freshly painted.  

Playground Frogs

Lincoln Road Playground
Prospect Park, Brooklyn

NYC Frog Project on the Road

Frog Pond, Boston Common
Boston, MA

In the winter, the Frog Pond is a skating rink; in the summer it seems to be a wading pool.

This vintage postcard shows what it looked like in the early 20th century.










Today, these two frogs keep watch on the goings-on.  Created by David Phillips (2002) and called "Frogs in Common," they are part of a series that extends to the nearby Tadpole Playground.

 

Just inside the Tadpole Playground is this mosaic, dedicated to David J. McGrath by his daughter.

And the gates to the playground have these smaller mosaics built into them.  

Public Art: Brooklyn Bridge Park

Brooklyn Bridge Park is currently host to a sculpture show sponsored by the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition entitled Perpetual Energy.   Included in the show is this sculpture, "Endangered Species:  Frogs Monument," by Ana Golici. 

  

NYC Frog Project On the Road

Dead Frog Circus
Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke, MA

I think the title really says it all here.  It's a circus.  Made out of dead frogs.  And. It. Is. Awesome!

I've stolen the picture from the Roadside America web site, as the museum prohibits photography.  According to the tour guide, the taxidermist, Burlingham Schurr, was dedicated to creating naturalistic scenes --but then he inexplicably created the circus.   Thank you, Mr. Schurr!


You can read more about it in this article from Yankee Magazine.

The circus's only rival is the Musee de Grenouilles in Switzerland, which boasts 108 taxidermied frogs in "satirical scenes from everyday life" in the nineteenth century.

NYC Frog Project On the Road

Southern Vermont Natural History Museum
Hogback Mountain, Marlboro, VT

Most of the collection at this great little museum consists of taxidermied birds collected in the 1920s and 1930s.  While our collecting ethic has changed, it was a treat to see so many of the birds close up, and there are several unreleasable owls and hawks that the museum staff cares for.  It's definitely worth a stop if you're passing through.


This diorama depicts an unfortunate situation for the frog, as a Green Heron is about to feast upon him.

And some examples of the birds, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and European Starling:

Bronx Zoo

Bronx, NY
I'm sure there are lots more frogs at the zoo, but these are the ones we stumbled on today.

Playground Frogs

Washington Hall Park

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

We take a lot of weekend drives around Brooklyn. Last week, we drove all the way to the end of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, where Brooklyn dead ends into the Newtown Creek, and happened on some interesting sculptures. On the way home, we found this guy in Washington Hall Park on Hall Street in Clinton Hill. There were also frogs etched into the concrete.

Frog Graffiti

Wythe Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn

City Reliquary

Back in November, we took a drive through Williamsburg and stopped at the City Reliquary. If you live in Brooklyn and haven't been there, go!

The front window features local collections. Someday, my frogs will be here, but this collection is pretty cool, too:

Frog Graffiti

Williamsburg, Brooklyn
N. 12th Street and Kent Avenue

Garden Frogs

New York Botanical Garden

Bronx, NY

This guy is in the Children's Garden. I'm sure in the summer he's a nice froggy green, but it's November now . . .

NYC Frog Project on the Road

Bear Mountain State Park

In 1908, the State of New York decided to move Sing Sing prison to Bear Mountain, but conservationists--aided by the likes of the Harriman family, John D. Rockefeller, and J. P. Morgan--had different ideas, and in 1913 Bear Mountain State Park opened.

The Appalachian Trail runs through the park and gives its name to the Trailside Museums and Zoo, where these pictures were taken. The Trailside Zoo is on the site of Fort Clinton, where the Americans were routed by the British in 1777. In addition to bears, a porcupine, and a pair of coyotes, the zoo is home to quite a few injured birds, including a Pileated Woodpecker, a Great Horned Owl, and a Bald Eagle.