I was driving through Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in August when I noticed something moving across the asphalt. Then I noticed more. Dozens of leopard frogs were crossing the road, all heading somewhere with clear purpose. It caught me off guard the first time I saw it, but I’ve come to expect it every late summer.
Wildlife Notes: Leopard Frogs on the Move
August marks a major movement period for leopard frogs in eastern Oklahoma. Both Northern Leopard Frogs and Plains Leopard Frogs are documented in the Sequoyah area, though telling them apart in the field takes a close look. By mid-to-late summer, they start traveling between water bodies. Some are working toward seasonal breeding sites, with a second breeding period generally occurring in fall. Others are moving toward deeper water to survive the colder months ahead.
Two things seem to push this leopard frog migration in Oklahoma into high gear: rainfall and dropping temperatures. After a heavy summer rain, I see a noticeable spike in frog activity on the roads. As the intense August heat starts to soften, the frogs respond fast. Movement tends to happen at night and on overcast or humid days, so the hours right after a storm are prime time.
The Road Crossing Problem
The challenge is that roads cut straight through their travel routes. Many frogs don’t make it across. I try to slow down in areas I know are active, especially on the park roads at Sequoyah. If traffic allows and it’s safe to stop, I’ll move a frog off the road. The migration window is short, usually a few weeks, so the concentrated crossings don’t last long.
Photography Notes: Getting Low on the Asphalt
For this shot, I used my Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm. I was hand-held the whole time, which let me drop down and adjust my angle quickly without fumbling with a tripod.
Camera settings:
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II
- Lens: Canon EF 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS II USM
- Focal length: 400mm
- Aperture: f/6.3
- Shutter speed: 1/1600 sec
- ISO: 640
- Exposure compensation: 0
- Support: Hand-held
The fast shutter speed locked the frog sharp despite its movement. At f/6.3 and 400mm, the depth of field is shallow enough to blur the road surface slightly without losing the frog’s detail. The asphalt background keeps things clean and uncluttered.
Shooting Road Frogs at Eye Level
Getting low is the most important move. I get the lens as close to the road surface as I can manage, which puts me at the frog’s eye level instead of shooting straight down from above. That angle makes a real difference in how the frog reads in the frame. It looks like a subject, not a specimen. The compressed background also helps by removing any visual noise from the surroundings.
For subjects this small on a flat surface, I generally prefer to work fast and hand-held rather than set up a support. The frogs move, the light changes, and you want to react. At 1/1600 sec I had plenty of margin to stay sharp without a tripod.
Every August I look forward to this. It’s one of those things that reminds me how much is happening in the refuge if you’re moving slowly enough to notice it.