Frogging Around my Property with Jono

Last Friday night Jono from Frogging Around http://froggingaround.com/blog/ came over to my place to have a look around at the species of frogs that I get on my property. It was a windy day and evening and it was cooler so this did effect the numbers of frogs that we saw. Many of the species for this time of year were out but in much lower numbers. As it gets wetter on the property the other species will turn up again.

Jono arrived just after 6 p.m. and we started looking down near the main dam near the house. We found a few Wilcox's Frogs straight away. We saw another male Wilcox's Frog trying to mate with a cane toad, which is becoming a regular sight here now and I saw one in a tree for the first time ever. I have only seen them on the ground prior to this at any location. All around the dam and creeks we could hear Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs as well. There were quite a few but not near the number as the past few weeks due to the cooler night.

Wilcox's Frog in a tree

While we were making our way around the dam we could hear and see two Peron's Tree Frogs calling out as well. They were not in very good spots to try and get photos so we kept moving on to the next part of the property. Making our way through one of the dry creek beds we spotted many Striped Marsh Frogs, all of which were small, young frogs, most likely from last season. We also sighted a couple of Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs.

Next we went up to near the house to spot another species which is regular most of the year round, the Green Tree Frogs that live around the verandas. We spotted one of the regulars. Next we went to the tanks where the Red Tree Frogs and Keferstein's Tree Frog live during the cooler months. We spotted only three tonight. They are so similar in appearance on the property that I have trouble identifying them unless they are calling, and the fact they live together and breed in the same place makes it even more difficult. After some discussions with a few frog experts, most of them agreed that they are more likely to be Red Tree Frogs.

Red Tree Frog

Next we made our way down to the rainforest section of the property to where the Great Barred Frogs and Tusked Frogs live. I was hopeful that we may see a Great Barred Frog as I heard the first one of the season calling only the night before. That in itself was surprising as I normally don't hear them here until after the creeks start to flow again in this area. Unfortunately we didn't see any but we did hear several Tusked Frogs in the area.

In the front paddocks I didn't think we would see much except for Striped Marsh Frogs which we did see many of, most of which were small also. We also sighted a first for my blog from my property. I have seen them on the property a few years ago but I hadn't photographed them. I had only seen two or three back then but tonight we saw about ten in total with little effort. With this species of the Spotted Marsh Frog now added to the list, that takes the total number of frogs photographed for the blog on my property to 18 this year, but the number of species seen on the property still stays at 26 as they are one species that has been identified.

All of the Spotted Marsh Frogs were small in size too. The first four or so that we saw looked like the first two photos. The others that were seen looked liked the last photos. I'm unsure of why there is a big difference in colour and skin texture, considering they were all found within the same general area and they were all about the same size. The frog experts that I consulted suggest that most likely they are all Spotted Marsh Frogs, as they can be highly variable in colour etc, within the same area.

One colour of the Spotted Marsh Frogs located

A different angle of the same Spotted Marsh Frog from above

This is the other colouring that the Spotted Marsh Frogs had, which is the colouring that I saw on them a few years ago on the property and have seen elsewhere.

Spotted Marsh Frog

The same Spotted Marsh Frog from above

A different angle of the same Spotted Marsh Frog from above

As we were making our way back to the house this fully grown Striped Marsh Frog jumped out in front of us. We saw heaps of them but only a few were fully grown.

One of the few large Striped Marsh Frogs sighted

Just before we went up the track to the house we heard some rustling in the grass. My first thought was a bandicoot, but after hearing it move again I knew it was an echidna. They can be regularly seen in this spot when the property isn't in flood. A nice find to finish off the night.

An echidna

Even though the quanity of frogs wasn't there compared to normal on my place we still saw relatively large numbers of some species and we did hear or see 8 different frog species for the night. Not too bad for this time of the year. A few minutes after Jono left a Dainty Tree Frog called out right near where his car was parked and about an hour later I heard the Great Barred Frog calling out again. I wished this happened while he was here as then it would have taken the number of species he saw or heard to 10 for the night on my property.

A good night frogging and good to finally meet Jono, another frog enthusiast from the coast.

More pics and updates when more frogs are photographed and recorded.

Monitoring Frog Populations around the Sunshine Coast

The first several photos are taken at my property a few nights ago when a heap of Peron's Tree Frogs were calling out in a location that was easy to access.

Peron's Tree Frog

The same Peron's Tree Frog

Also called the Emerald Spotted Tree Frog

Peron's Tree Frog performing its advertisement call

The Peron's Tree Frog performing its advertisement call again

Last night a friend and I went out with Eva to do some monitoring of animals, frogs in particular at four sites around the Sunshine Coast. This is a really interesting process and is done in a scientific manner to make the research valid and accurate and is done over a period of many years to look for trends within areas and across the whole region. At each location water testing is done to test the temperature of the water, the dissolved oxygen in the water, pH of the water, and the salt concentration as well. A special device that records and detects micro bats is also used. The time and weather conditions is recorded as well as the moon cycle.

Each site has a 100 metre stretch of creek that we follow. Only animals within this zone are recorded. The distance at which they were found along the transect is recorded as well as any other information like whether it was seen or heard, the gender and size etc. Some photos and sound recordings are taken as well. Before we move into a new area our shoes are washed in a solution to kill any potential chytrid fungus that may have been picked up to ensure that it is not transferred into another system if it is present. Last night it was quite a warm night. It was very still and dark as the moon, which was at half moon was not up until later in the night. We left from my property at 6 and we continued through until approximately 1 am this morning until we returned home.

Last night we started off at a site at Cedar Creek. All the sites were easily accessible and easy to move around once within the transect,  compared to some of the sites I went to a week earlier. Heaps of species were seen at all the sites which was good for us to see. At this first site dozens of Pearson's Green Tree Frogs were seen and heard with a large range of colour variations. We also heard Great Barred Frogs, Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs and Dainty Tree Frogs within the general area.

Pearson's Green Tree Frog

The same Pearson's Green Tree Frog

The Pearson's Green Tree Frog again

Another specimen and colour variation of a Pearson's Green Tree Frog

Another specimen and colour variation of a Pearson's Green Tree Frog

After a short drive we arrived at destination number two which was on Belli Creek. This site had more species and was the nicest to visit as well. Here we saw possums, a melomy, a bandicoot, a massive carpet snake, heaps of very large spiders (15 - 20 centimetres across including the legs), a variety of other insects, several micro bats as well as a good variety of frogs.


Pearson's Green Tree Frogs were in good numbers here as well.

Pearson's Green Tree Frogs are also called Cascade Tree Frogs

Several large male Giant Barred Frogs were found here.

Giant Barred Frog

Another Giant Barred Frog

The same Giant Barred Frog as above

Many different types of insect were seen including this one which resembled a cockroach but I am unsure as to what it actually was. It was about 6 centimetres long, not including the antennae.

One of the many insects that were seen on the trip

Another shot of this large insect

Only a few Wilcox's Frogs were seen on the transect.

Wilcox's Frog

Another male Wilcox's Frog

Theses two males were fighting each other but I missed a photo of them wrestling. On they way back I did manage to get a photo and recording though. While they are wrestling they make some unusual noises that are not part of their normal call.

A male Giant Barred Frog

Another male Giant Barred Frog

Many Tusked Frogs could be heard along the creek. This female came out just as we were making our way over this shallow pool. She was most likely making her way to the males that were calling out only a few metres away. We also found a few foam nests of eggs from the Tusked Frogs along the bank too.

Tusked Frog

This carpet snake was quite impressive. Not the biggest I've seen by any means, but still a decent sized snake. It was a good 3 metres long and about 30 - 35 centimetres in circumference along the majority of its body.

Carpet Snake

Several Great Barred Frogs could be heard but we only managed to locate a couple.

Great Barred Frog

The same Great Barred Frog

On the way back we managed to capture and record the sound of the two male Giant Barred Frogs fighting.

Two male Giant Barred Frogs fighting

Two male Giant Barred Frogs fighting still

This is a short recording of the noises that the male Giant Barred Frogs were making as they were fighting.

The third site was Six Mile Creek near Cooroy. We didn't see many frogs here even though the habitat is very similar to the other 2 spots. The soil is much drier and sandier which could effect the frogs. We heard a few Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs, Dainty Tree Frogs and Tusked Frogs. We only saw one Dainty Tree Frog and a large female Giant Barred Frog.

Dainty Tree Frog

Dainty Tree Frogs are also called Graceful Tree Frogs

Large female Giant Barred Frog

The last site was Cooroora Creek. We saw many smaller, young male Giant Barred Frogs, a few very large female Giant Barred Frogs, a few Striped Marsh Frogs, Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs as well as hearing some Dainty Tree Frogs and Tusked Frogs. Some micro bats were active here as well. Several large snails and birds were also seen at this location.

Striped Marsh Frog

Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

Large female Giant Barred Frog

Large female Giant Barred Frog from front on

It was a very rewarding night and I learnt a lot again. I was pretty exhausted from a big day on the farm and then following up with this until around 1 a.m. when we arrived back at my house, had really worn me out but I would definitely do it again. As I was going inside the door I saw I had one last frog species to photograph. One of the resident Green Tree Frogs was sitting under the light near the door getting his fill for the night. No wonder he looks so healthy and big!!

Green Tree Frog

More pics and updates when more frogs are photographed and recorded.