Large Toadlets or Major Toadlets

Last Friday night I thought I would check the front paddock for frogs again as the rain earlier that week had made the dam overflow again so the front paddock had several inches of water over it again and had done for a few days. I didn't think I would see much though as it was quite cold. Much to my surprise I saw a few dozen Striped Marsh Frogs and Striped Rocket Frogs. Most of them were quite small so they were probably young from earlier this year.

In amongst the soft reed type grass I could hear approximately 150 frogs calling out. It sounded familiar but different from anything I had heard before. I decided to have a good look for the frog. After about 1 hour I had yet to locate one of the frogs, but I saw a frog about 30 mm long out the corner of my eye jumping into the swamp grass. It looked similar in shape to a Tusked Frog. I found a spot where a few of the frogs were calling from so I slowly moved the grass away. The frogs continued to call. but I could not see a frog in the area. So I started to cut the grass off in this small patch level with the ground. I had cleared an area about the size of two dinner plates to ground level. Then the frogs began to call again. I still could not see them. This meant they must be under the ground. After scratching the surface a small amount I found the frogs. I thought they were Tusked Frogs at first, but their call was totally different and their appearance was quite different too. They have been identified as Large Toadlets by someone that I would consider to be an expert in frog identification.

The pictures are not near as good as normal as I had changed the settings a few days before and forgot to change them back. As I was wet and muddy I didn't want to be touching the camera too much so I had to use auto on the camera which doesn't work near as well.

Last night I went back to the spot where the Giant Barred Frogs were found a few weeks ago to look for owls. I was surprised yet again to hear about 4 calling out last night still. Unfortunately I only had my zoom lens with me so I was unable to get any photos of them again.

Large Toadlet



Large Toadlets are also known as Major Toadlets

This is a recording of the Large Toadlets or Major Toadlets calling out in the front paddock of my property.

 

This will most likely be the last Frog Blog until the rains come after Winter as most frogs have begun to hibernate. If any other frogs are located between now and then I will post them, if not see you in the near future.

Thankyou for taking the time to read my blogs. I hope they have been informative and pleasurable to read and view. I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have taking the photos and creating them.

Bye for now.

Giant Barred Frogs

The friends that came over to my property to go frogging with me went to a location at Pomona to do some frogging last week. They didn't think they would find much due to the colder weather but were surprised to see one species. My friend told me that they were the same as the Great Barred Frogs on my property but they were much larger, at least twice the size! I didn't think much of it at first but then I realised that they don't get much bigger than they do at my property. I thought they could be Giant Barred Frogs but it was unlikely as they are listed as endangered and are extremely uncommon around the whole Sunshine Coast.

A few nights later they said they were going back to get some better photos so I decided to go along with them. As soon as we arrived I could hear a few individuals calling out. They sounded very much like the Great Barred Frogs but were much deeper with a slight variation in call. Within a few minutes we had located one of the frogs. They were Giant Barred Frogs alright. Firstly their size is larger but the distinguishing features are the more pointed nose and the yellow around the pupil. This is the first time I had ever seen them so I was very excited! My friend said that this was only a baby compared to the ones the other night. We found several other specimens on the walk. As well as finding several of them we heard about 15 to 20 others calling from around the area. We didn't find any that were as big as a few they saw on the first night but still very impressive!

I have since reported this location to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and to DERM in Queensland to ensure they can be protected at this site.

Giant Barred Frog

The same Giant Barred Frog

The same Giant Barred Frog from behind

Another Giant Barred Frog

Another Giant Barred Frog

Another Giant Barred Frog

The biggest Giant Barred Frog for the night

The Giant Barred Frog with ruler comparison (approximately 11 cm)

The same Giant Barred Frog from above

The same Giant Barred Frog again

 

While we were looking for the Giant Barred Frogs we also found possibly 60 or more snails. These were large snails too. The shell had a diameter of about 50 - 60 millimetres.

 

One of the many giant snails that were seen

 

When I went to lean on one of the trees to get a photo of a Giant Barred Frog I nearly put my hand onto this millipede. I didn't realise they got this big. This specimen was about 60 - 70 millimetres long. Everything in this area seems to be giant!!!

 

The giant millipede located on the trunk of a tree

 

The same millipede from above

 

While we were at this location we also heard one Green Tree Frog and a couple of Great Barred Frogs. A Squirrel Glider come in for a visit while we were walking around also as well as a Few Ringtail Possums, one of which had a baby on its back. A beautiful way to finish the walk. Unfortunately I only had my close up camera so I was unable to get a photo of the mammals in the tree. My friend did obtain a few nice shots of them though.

Sadly this will most likely be the last Frog Blog until the rains come after Winter as most frogs have begun to hibernate. If any other frogs are located between now and then I will post them, if not see you in the near future.

Thankyou for taking the time to read my blogs. I hope they have been informative and pleasurable to read and view. I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have taking the photos and creating them.

Bye for now.

Frogging with Friends at my Coles Creek Property

About three weeks ago a few friends came over to see the Tusked Frogs before they began to hibernate for the winter. While they were here we decided to have a look for a few of the other species of frogs that they hadn't seen before. Unfortunately the colder weather had already arrived so not as many frogs were out. Luckily the main frog they were wanting to see was the Tusked Frog and they were heard in large numbers still.

We started off in the area where the Tusked Frogs are found. We heard many but didn't see too many. While I was searching for one I spotted it but it swam below the debris and my friends didn't get to see it. A short time later I lifted a log and we found  a nest of eggs just on the waters edge, but I only got to see the frog for a brief second before it jumped in the debris on land. Both my mates missed it again. We continued looking along the creek bed and finally we hit the jackpot! We found a male calling from the entrance of a burrow on the bank of the creek. This particular burrow was just on the water line. He showed very well and we all got to view it and were able to get some nice pictures.

Tusked Frog

 

Tusked Frog at the entrance to the burrow

The Tusked Frog in his burrow on the bank of the creek

We could only hear the odd call of the Great Barred Frogs and after we had finished in the area where the Tusked Frogs are found we couldn't hear any so we went to the Peron's Tree Frog site. We could hear a few calling out so we waded through the water to the trees to obtain some photos.

 

Peron's Tree Frog

Peron's Tree Frog from another angle

We heard a couple of Tyler's Tree Frogs but they were too high in the trees or in trees that were in water that was too deep to walk in. So we missed out on getting any photos of them on this night. While we were on this bank though we heard a Great Barred Frog. We only heard one frog calling which I was very surprised to hear. This is the first time I have heard them calling from a different location, from the 2 sites where they are found on the property. The ground cover and leaf litter is much the same but the creek at this location is very different. We had a quick look for him but couldn't see him from where the call came from. One of my friends had a look under some of the leaf litter in that spot and he located him in a small depression covered with a thin layer of leaves.

Great Barred Frog

After that we decided to have a look for the Wilcox's Frog. As soon as we arrived in the location we found many specimens. While we were observing them we heard a very faint and deep toned call. There was nothing else there that could have been making the call. We also found one of the Wilcox's Frogs in the area where the call came from with it's air sack partially inflated. I did obtain a recording of the sound but unfortunately it isn't very good quality but you can make it out. There was a great colour variation of the frogs that were out tonight. The first of the photos below shows a variation in colour that I hadn't seen before.

A Wilcox's Frog with a different colour variation

Wilcox's Frog

Another specimen of the Wilcox's Frog

While we were out that night we also saw a few other species of frogs. Most of which we didn't bother taking photos of due to time and the fact they are more common. These frogs included Striped Marsh Frogs, Striped Rocket Frogs, Northern Dwarf Tree Frogs, Keferstein's Tree Frogs and Green Tree Frogs. While we were walking along one of the tracks we saw an Ornate Burrowing Frog briefly. Sadly before we could get a photo it jumped into the longer grass and we were unable to locate it again.

We had a great night out frogging even though the numbers of frogs was down compared to the last few months due to the cooler weather.