babur and the skittering frog
Posted by rocksea and sarah on 14 Dec 2009 | Category: photography, prakriti
Its unique habit of skittering on the water surface was first recorded by the Mughal Emperor Babur (1483-1530) in his autobiography. This is the skittering frog, also known as the Indian skipper frog, a common frog widely distributed throughout South Asia.
I was surprised and happy to find that such details were recorded by the first Mughal Emperor of India. I was more surprised to know that Babur had indeed written an autobiography! Babur came from Persia, and his views on the newly conquered Hindustan are written in his biography. Links to the translated pdf version is given below with the references.
Babur writes, along with the events of the year 932: “The frogs of Hindustān are worthy of notice. Though of the same species as our own, yet they will run twelve or fourteen feet on the face of the water”.
The skipper in these pictures was a permanent resident of our fish pond. Fortunately it feeds mostly on aquatic and non-aquatic insects and we didn’t see any of our fishes disappear 
The frog usually floats near the vegetation. If disturbed, it skips on the water surface, to some distance. Further provoked, it plunges into the depths.
Date: Nov-Dec, 2007
Location: @ home, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Camera: Nikon D80 | Olympus C770UZ and macro lenses
References:
1. Khan and Tasnim, 1987. A field guide to the identification of herps of Pakistan. Part I: Amphibia, Monograph No. 14. Biological Society of Pakistan, Lahore, pp.1-27 [pdf: cross-reference].
2. Memoirs of Zehīr-ed-Dīn Muhammed Bābur, Emperor of Hindustan, written by himself in the Chaghatāi Tūrki language and translated by John Leyden, Esq., M.D. and William Erskine, Esq. Annotated and Revised by Sir Lucas King, C.S.I., LL.D., F.S.A. [Vol I] [Vol II]
3. Dr. S.D.Biju, University of Delhi
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35 Comments »
flyawaymind from India
Sheeba from United States
mohanan from Qatar
cra…cra…
krom krom
It feels refreshing to see the frog immersed in water, though not an act I would give myself into at the moment with the snow outside!
Awesome captures! Amazing colors with great depth of contrast… Simply can’t stop saying hats off for that beautiful capture of the frog’s eye!
hehe. yes the eye came out pretty well! thanks mohan
It looks awesome and glad to hear that your fish was under no threat.
I am thinking of buying a new zoom lens. Any tips on what to buy? You must be specializing in it looking at the pictures
Since Mridula asked the question I would also ask… Which is a camera I should use for photography. I am planning to buy one. I dont need professional photography as I am not good at it. Currently my camera is my mobile
If you could suggest one then it would be nice.
Hey Abhi, I feel the Olympus UZ series might me good if you are not into the expensive DSLR. I have used an earlier version of the series and have had good results.
Hello mridula, for these shots I used a 200mm (fixed, not a zoom) macro lens, from tamron (which is cheaper than nikon lenses but works fine) along with a nikon d80 camera. So I got these images from a very close distance. I have a tamron 200-500mm zoom lens which needs to be often used with a tripod, under good lighting conditions.
Which is your camera? For serious photography, nikon zoom lenses might be good.
I have a frog in the well at home but that is too big in size and it never skitter in water but takes a deep dive and hides itself for 5-8 minutes. A great diver.
Skittering frog is ofcouse new to me and nice to know that Babur wrote about it.
Probably it is too heavy to skip on the surface hehe
This common frog is sooo well captured that it looks sooooo different . Amazing captures… Loved its eyes…
hey srilatha, happy that you liked it
cheers,,
excellent shot … as always. luved the way its eyes are popping out and the green tone. and thnx for that info on ‘babur’. i am also quite surprised that he wrote an autobiography and had some interest in nature
yes, babur wrote about all the interesting animals, birds and aquatic creatures which he found different from his homeland.
Good Lord! how did u manage that? looks like this fellow is familiar with u and hence posed for u!
nd thanks for the Babar link.. caught my curiosity and I am trying to read at least until my interests lasts….
hehe the skipper might have got used to my frequent visits so that he was comfortable posing for a few shots before he dived down.
yes the babur book is a treasure. yet to go through most of it. will try to print it out sometime..
Excellent pics as usual..reminded me of a huge brown frog which used to visit us in the evenings (during vacations in our village) and make a loud noice…It was called “pokkachi thavala”..have no idea what species that was…
How did you come across babur’s autobiography?
Hey Tinker, Babur’s autobiography was mentioned in one of the scientific papers which studied this species (linked). Then I saw that it was available for download, and checked it out
pokkachi thavala, may be a generic name, I guess…
wow, a ‘Jesus’ frog!! can walk on water
suhweet!! lovely pictures tooooo… i don’t know, do you think the snow is slowing down the page? i guess i will turn it off then
hehe… a jesus frog indeed
am not sure if it is the snow animation slowing down your page. but it is a possibility for sure
we just had our first snow for the season.
Frogs always remind me of the dissection I performed on them in the Zoology lab… Babur wrote an autobiography, my next book on the shelf, will get to that pdf soon… Thanks Rocksea:))
hehe. never did a dissection so far… well, may be for cooking
If you want a book scan version, google books have it. It is but a different edition of the same book.
hii,
At the risk of sounding repetitive, each of ur blog intrigues me more than before. Its really awesome to know that our little indian frog was also observed and mentioned in Babur’s records. Thanks for this bit of knowledge!
Also must tell u that like id said before, u have inspired me to write a fresh new blog. Please do visit and review it
http://www.klishmaklaver.blogspot.com
Wish you to review my work please.
Lookin forward to hearing from u..
Cheers,
Vibhuti
hey vibhuti, the new olive green – polka dot website looks good
thanks for the gokarna notes. so are you gonna keep both the blogs?
Wow really enjoyed reading about the frog from that ancient autobiography! Great job finding that information. Love the details of the frog in the first photo especially!
Very nice image, i love the close-up
andy, dominic, grazie
great pictures, love the first one !
you see a lot of great animals, thanks for sharing with us
Laura Abigail
Wonderful images! You must be very busy with the camera whenever you come home to Kerala! I enjoy seeing all the Kottayam wildlife photos.
Just a few morning walks around my house when am at home… that is all
Nice shots!n cool, I didnt even know that Babur had written an auto biography. This sounds interesting.
That’s a great picture! And interesting info about Babur’s writing.
Laura, Sonali, Bindu: smiles