A Toad's-Eye View of the Forest Floor

Some wildlife pictures are about big animals in big landscapes. This one is about a very small animal in a very small world: a toad no bigger than a thumbnail, sitting on top of a pair of scaly brown mushrooms on a mossy log.

Why a mushroom?

Young toads spend damp days hunting on the forest floor for small invertebrates: springtails, beetles, flies, ants. Fungi attract many of those insects, so a mushroom makes a good hunting post. It's also slightly raised, cool and moist, which suits an animal that needs to keep its skin from drying out.

Tiny, and easy to miss

After breeding season, young toads leave the water and disperse into woodland and grassland. At that stage they're tiny and perfectly camouflaged in leaf litter. You usually only notice them when one hops, and then they seem to be everywhere.

Photographing at ground level

Getting a shot like this means lying down in the moss and moving slowly. A wide aperture blurs the forest behind into soft colour and makes the toad and its mushroom the only sharp thing in the frame. Please don't move or handle small amphibians for a photo; their skin is delicate and easily damaged.