Tortugas!

Quite a chorus line on the log at Frog Song Pond today. Well....a silent chorus line, anyway.

Maybe basking line is a better description. More photos on my other blog, HERE.

These two wanted to be alone, however....

I recently heard that Turtle Splash! will be out next year in a Spanish edition. Muy bueno!

Craig Reinauer, a preservice elementary teacher studying education at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland, adapted Turtle Splash! to create a stop-motion animated video for his class project. Check it out HERE---quite charming!

Pond Babies

Sample art for proposed project, POND BABIES.

Okay....so I haven't actually seen any babies yet this year, but I keep looking.

The mallard drake has been swimming around and annoying the turtles all by himself the last couple of days, so perhaps the mama-to-be is egg sitting. We've had ducklings on Frog Song Pond nearly every year. The turtles have been out in herds....(hmmm....what's the collective noun for Eastern Painted Turtles?) but I haven't spotted any hatchlings.

Basking

Squirrels may be collecting acorns to store for the long Maine winter, but the turtles of Frog Song Pond are gathering sunlight. Four of them braved a chilly wind today to soak up some rays, reminding me of the illustrations I made for Scoot! and Turtle Splash, with all those teeny tiny pieces of paper. This one looked particularly pensive, perhaps reflecting on summer memories before hibernating in the bottom of the pond.

More frogs and turtles and other critters, are here.