Today was a very warm day for mid August and tonight it was quite warm still so many species of frogs were calling out again tonight. I made my way out to where the Wilcox's Frogs are first of all. Last week I was out near where the Wilcox's Frogs are found on the property and I saw a male mating with a toad!! I couldn't believe my eyes but I saw another one doing the same thing tonight. These two are different genus so are unable to produce offspring.
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| Wilcox's Frog mating with a toad |
All around the property hundreds or possibly even thousands of Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs were calling out. Heaps have been calling out certain nights that have been warmer over the last week or so but not like tonight. Also hundreds of Eastern Sign-bearing Frogs could be heard calling out as well. This is not uncommon though as they do call out all year round, even when it does get cooler.
I assume the next two photos below are of an Eastern Sign-bearing Frog even though it sounded very different from the others. It looks the same so I imagine it had something wrong with it as it sounded very different from all the others. At this stage I didn't have my recording equipment with me and by the time I returned with it, it had moved on and I couldn't hear this variation in call again.
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| Eastern Sign-bearing Frog |
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| This is the side view of the same Eastern Sign-bearing Frog above |
The next three photos are of a definite Eastern Sign-bearing Frog. It has the correct colours, patterning and advertisement call. A distinguishing feature of these frogs, but not unique to just this species are the longitudinal ridges down its back which are more obvious in the third photo.
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| Eastern Sign-bearing Frog |
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| Also known as the Beeping Froglet |
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| The longitudinal ridges are obvious on this Eastern Sign-bearing Frog |
This is a recording of an Eastern Sign-bearing Frog's advertisement call from tonight.
The largest concentration of the Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs tonight was on the main dam near the house. They were all sitting on the water plants and small shrubs just above the water. It was deafening close to the edge of the water. The recording had to be done from about 30 metres from the waters edge so it didn't distort the recording. There was easily a few hundred in an area approximately 100 metres squared.
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| Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog |
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| The same Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog from above |
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| Another Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog calling |
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| Also known as Eastern Sedge Frogs |
This is a recording of many Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog's calling out tonight.
I went out to the front paddock and I could hear two species of frogs calling out instantly. I could hear several dozen Striped Marsh Frogs calling out. Most of these were in burrows in the ground which were quite full of water. They were sitting in the water calling continuously.
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| Striped Marsh Frog calling from his burrow |
This is a recording of a couple of Striped Marsh Frog's performing their advertisement call from tonight.
The other frogs that I thought I could hear were the Large Toadlets. I was fairly certain of this by their call. I found a couple and when I first looked I thought they were Dusky Toadlets. This was due to the massive colour difference from the ones I found earlier in the year and the striking yellow markings on the front legs. After closer inspection I noticed that they couldn't be Dusky Toadlets as they lacked the yellow groin marking on the hind legs. Also the glands near the head were not enlarged as they are for the Dusky Toadlet. As I thought from the call, they were indeed Large Toadlets.
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| Large Toadlet |
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| Large Toadlets are also known as Major Toadlets |
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| Side view of the Large Toadlet |
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This Large Toadlet was protecting some eggs!!
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This is a recording of several of Large Toadlet's performing their advertisement call from tonight.
As I was leaving to come back to the house I finally spotted one Striped Marsh Frog that was not calling out from a burrow so I was able to get some better photos.
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| Striped Marsh Frog |
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| The same Striped Marsh Frog |
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| The Striped Marsh Frog from above |
I climbed up the stairs when I got back to the house and I spotted this Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog on the veranda just outside the door. To be honest I see many frog species on the house and veranda, but not very often are they Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs.
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Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog on the veranda
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More pics and updates when more frogs are photographed and recorded.
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