The Last of the Summer Frogs

The wet season was very short lived this year. Within about two weeks of the only significant rain for the summer, most of the summer frogs had stopped calling. This was due to little follow up rain and the early onset of the colder weather. The numbers of several species was down significantly compared to the last few years. I would expect that the severe drought was the main contributing factor. On the other hand some other species have increased in numbers. At least the wet season did arrive and give an opportunity for the frogs to breed, even though it was for a shortened period. Hopefully enough have breed to boost the numbers of frogs back to similar numbers. During the few weeks after the rain many species were out breeding in good numbers so time will tell if the breeding season was long enough.

In the last few days before most of the summer frogs had stopped calling I went for a walk around the property. Most of the same species were sighted as in my last post except for the Northern Banjo Frogs, Dainty Tree Frogs and the Keferstein's Tree Frogs. There was a noticeable decline in numbers of  every other species that was sighted compared to the few weeks prior. I only took a few photos as it was getting late and I was determined to get a decent photo of the Tyler's Tree Frog for this season, which took quite a while.

A few Ornate Burrowing Frogs were spotted. This one was out in the open so it was easy to get a good photograph. As mentioned in other posts this frog can be extremely variable in colour/pattern and even skin texture. I have several, very different colours/patterns of these frogs on the property. This colour variation has been seen on the property before but is less common than the other colours/patterns found here. The shape of these frogs is quite distinct, along with the protruding eyes, but to be certain for identification, all specimens have a distinct plain circular patch between their eyes, on their back.

Ornate Burrowing Frog side view

Ornate Burrowing Frog top view, showing the circular patch between the eyes

I had to wade across the creek again to get to the Tyler's Tree Frogs. I could hear a couple calling from the house which is why I actually went out frogging briefly tonight. Luckily one of the two was sitting reasonably low on a branch, overhanging the water. It took quite a while to get a photo as I couldn't look through the eyepiece of the camera due to the height of the branch. I am concerned about the limited number of Tyler's Tree Frogs sighted and heard this year. They have only ever been heard in a small stretch of one creek on the property and only three or so were heard at one time this season. They were always in limited numbers on the property. About 25 - 30 individuals is the most I had seen and heard at any time, and most nights when they were active they usually numbered between six and twelve.



The left side of this creek is the only place the Tyler's Tree Frogs are found

Back view of one of the Tyler's Tree Frogs



The other specimen of the Tyler's Tree Frog



The same Tyler's Tree Frog as above



Tyler's Tree Frog calling

The Green Tree Snake below was in the same tree as the two Tyler's Tree Frogs. It would be one of the longest specimens that I have seen of this species. It would have been close to two and a quarter metres and had 6 distinct lumps in its belly. Most of these I presume would have been frogs. After the snake was in the tree I only heard the one Tyler's Tree Frog call out for the remainder of the night. Hopefully the Green Tree Snake didn't eat one.



Green Tree Snake

This is a recording of the advertising call of the Tyler's Tree Frog. The first frog heard in the recording is actually a Peron's Tree Frog and it continues to call throughout the recording in the background. The loud "laughing" frog in the foreground is the Tyler's Tree Frog. Eastern Sign-bearing Froglets can also be heard continually throughout the recording. They have the high pitched "eeek" sound. The occasional Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog can also be heard.

Several Peron's Tree Frogs were seen and many more heard but this was the only one that I could access easily to photograph. They look very similar to the Tyler's Tree Frogs and Roth's Tree Frogs. I get all three of these species on my property and all three are known as the laughing tree frogs. The Roth's can be easily distinguished from the other two species by the colouring of the pupil. To identify Peron's Tree Frogs and Tyler's Tree Frogs is more difficult as they are more similar in appearance. I find the Person's Tree Frogs here have a rougher textured skin and darker markings, but this is not always the case. The blotching and patterning can change between the species so this isn't a reliable way to identify them. The best way is to observe them calling as their call is the best way to identify them, which is what I do. The Peron's Tree Frogs also have tiny green specks scattered over the dorsal surface and legs. Sometimes these specks can be hard to see though.

One of the several Peron's Tree Frogs that were sighted

The same Peron's Tree Frog from above

Peron's Tree Frog

Tonight the big Green Tree Frog on the veranda didn't want to come out of his day time hiding hole.

The big Green Tree Frog

Tonight was the first time that I had sighted the Broad-palmed Rocket Frog this season. The quantity of this species on the property is always much less than the Striped Rocket Frogs but they can usually be seen most nights after decent summer rain. This was not the case this year! The Striped Rocket Frogs would have numbered many thousands on the property. Several hundred could be seen easily most nights after good rain in a small area whereas the Broad-palmed Rocket Frogs I would estimate in the low hundreds and maybe less. The most I have ever seen in one night would have been about 30 individuals.

Broad-palmed Rocket Frog

The same Broad-palmed Rocket Frog from above

The Broad-palmed Rocket Frog from above

The biggest decline in frog numbers I noticed this year was with the Rocket Frogs. Each night less than 150 Striped Rocket Frogs were found and significantly less where heard calling throughout the property compared to the last four years. For the entire year I only sighted two Broad-palmed Rocket Frogs on the property!! Hopefully this decline in numbers was just due to the drought and the numbers pick up again in the coming years if we get better rain spread more consistently throughout the summer. Nothing else has changed in the last two years like slashed areas of the property and the times when the property is slashed. I will get a better indication of factors that effect the frog populations, the longer I observe the numbers and species of frogs on the property, the weather, farming practices etc on the property. I have something very unique here and I do everything possible to help increase the populations of the native animals.

This is a recording of the advertising call of the Broad-palmed Rocket Frog.  A Cane Toad can be heard at the beginning of the recording in the background.

The Cane Toad was located and disposed of humanely. Very few are heard calling around the property now due to me gradually removing them over the last 4 years.

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

The First Photograph of Another Species at my Property

Last night I went out to take some photos of the frogs on my Coles Creek property as they were extremely active last night. About 3 weeks ago the rocket frogs started calling again and last night they were in large numbers for the conditions. In a 150 m2  area close to the edge of the creek and dam there would have been approximately 120 Striped Rocket Frogs and on the opposite bank were about 20 Broad-palmed Rocket Frogs. Once the property starts to flood the Striped Rocket Frogs will number thousands  over the entire 45 acres and the Broad-palmed Rocket Frogs will reach many hundreds. The number last night is high for how dry the property is at present. Over the last several weeks as well I have seen massive numbers of the Wilcox's Frogs as well. Last night I spotted more than 60 without looking too hard. All, except for about 6 of the ones sighted were males.

While I was out taking photos I spotted a frog that I have seen many of, in my travels and I have photographed on several occasions. I have seen them on the property two times before but hadn't photographed them here. Last night I was lucky enough to see three of them and was able to photograph two of them!! They were the Ornate Burrowing Frogs. This keeps the number of species I have seen on my property at 26 species. I have now photographed 19 species at my property this year for this blog!

Two of the female Wilcox's Frogs that I saw were in amplexus.

A male and female Wilcox's Frog in amplexus

The same pair of frogs as above

The male is much smaller than the female and mainly yellow when breeding

The female is much larger and usually tan to grey in colour

The male can hold on even after the female jumps (which can be over 2 metres)

This is one of the many Striped Rocket Frogs that were seen. Getting a photo of them proved more difficult. As soon as I squatted near them, they jumped off or they were too difficult to photograph in amongst the reeds and plants.

Striped Rocket Frog

The same Striped Rocket Frog

This is a recording of the advertising call of the Striped Rocket Frog.

I was so surprised to see one of these Ornate Burrowing Frogs last night as they are not a common visitor here... or they are not seen regularly anyway. This species of frog can be highly variable in colour and skin texture even within the same location. The first few that I saw were nearly identical, except for their size.

Ornate Burrowing Frog

Ornate Burrowing Frog from above

Right side of the Ornate Burrowing Frog

Ornate Burrowing Frog from front on

Left side of the Ornate Burrowing Frog

The Ornate Burrowing Frog from directly above

The next few pictures are photographs of the second specimen of the Ornate Burrowing Frog that I saw a few minutes later.

The left side of the second Ornate Burrowing Frog

The right side of the second Ornate Burrowing Frog

The second Ornate Burrowing Frog again

I was surprised by how photogenic some of the Broad-palmed Rocket Frogs were, compared to the Striped Rocket Frogs. I didn't see any of them mixed in with the opposite species. They were both in their own groups on opposite banks. To hear them calling without seeing them I cannot tell the difference in their advertising call.

Broad-palmed Rocket Frog

Broad-palmed Rocket Frog close up

Right side of the Broad-palmed Rocket Frog

The same Broad-palmed Rocket Frog

This is a recording of the advertising call of the Broad-palmed Rocket Frog. Unfortunately you can hear a toad in the background. I'm sure that I won't hear it call out again though.

This is becoming a regular sight, with the male Wilcox's Frogs in amplexus with another species. At least this time it was a frog and not a toad. I wonder if this has to do with such a difference in numbers of males compared to females of this species or they just don't care!!

Wilcox's Frog in amplexus with a Striped Rocket Frog

A Wilcox's Frog in amplexus with a Striped Rocket Frog again

A few more photographs that I was able to get of another specimen of the Striped Rocket Frogs.

Striped Rocket Frog

This was a big female Striped Rocket Frog from above

Left side of the female Striped Rocket Frog

The next three photographs are all of the same frog. When I was taking the photos I thought it was another Ornate Burrowing Frog as I had already seen three prior to seeing this frog. I knew it looked different in colour and slightly larger as well, as soon as I saw it. I also know that they can be greatly different in colour in one small area too. I didn't realise until I downloaded the photos though that the pupils are very different in this specimen. In all the photos of Ornate Burrowing Frogs that I have taken and the ones I remember seeing they all have a pupil pattern the same as the first Ornate Burrowing Frog in this blog. As far as I knew this was one of the distinguishing features of this species. Too be honest I'm not absolutely certain what this frog is. I assume that it is an Ornate Burrowing Frog but I will have to check with the experts.

I have checked with Aaron, an expert in frogs, and he has confirmed that these are indeed Ornate Burrowing Frogs. The difference in the pupil is due to the pupil being dilated, which must be less common when photographing frogs. He has given another or better identification for Ornate Burrowing Frogs as well. He said that all specimens that he has come across have a distinct plain circular patch behind the eyes. This should be used as a key feature along with eyes and body shape to help identify this species.

You can check out Aaron's amazing frog photos, and other animals also by clicking on the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23031163@N03/

A different colour variation of an Ornate Burrowing Frog

The same Ornate Burrowing Frog from above

The Ornate Burrowing Frog from above with the distinct circular patch

The Wilcox's Frog were very obvious in their breeding colours. It is great to see that their numbers have continued to increase on the property. They have also started to spread into other areas on the property.

Male Wilcox's Frog

The same Wilcox's Frog

Another male Wilcox's Frog

The same Wilcox's Frog from above

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

Even More Frogs on My Property at Coles Creek

I went out frogging tonight to locate two species that I was confident that would be out tonight, that I haven't taken photos of in the last few days. These were the Great Barred Frogs and the Tusked Frogs. I heard all of the frogs that I have included in my last two posts calling out again tonight, except for the Dainty Tree Frogs (which is no surprise, as they usually only call out when it is raining lightly). I didn't bother taking photos of most of these species again tonight.

I knew that tonight the Great Barred Frogs would be out as the flood waters have dropped in the area where they are found and it wasn't actually raining. They are definitely my favourite frog on the property and one of my most favoured frogs that I have seen. The group has always lived on the eastern bank of the creek in the small area they are found here. They have lived on this bank for the last  3 years. Tonight I found them all on the western bank of the creek in the same area. I was pleased to hear another group on the edge of the property also. This group isn't as large as the original group but I saw about 5 males in the new area and heard a few others. This is great that they have spread out into more areas. This new area also has very steep banks on the creek and the same types of vegetation and leaf litter also.

One of the 20+ male Great Barred Frogs in the main group

Another angle of the same frog

The same Great Barred Frog again

Another Great Barred Frog in the main group

One of the Great Barred Frogs in the new area

Another angle of the Great Barred Frog in the new area

Another angle of the same Great Barred Frog in the new area

Another angle of the same specimen

There were thousands of Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs out again. The only reason I stopped to take a photo of this one is because it jumped onto me while I was attempting to find the Tusked Frog.

Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

I could hear a few Tusked Frogs calling out but I had no luck in locating them. I would have to say they are one of the hardest frogs to find, once you have heard them calling, out of the 22 species that live on the property. At least while I was in the area I heard multiple Broad-palmed Rocket Frogs calling out. I got a few snaps of them which was pleasing because it was another species that I hadn't photographed this season.

Broad-palmed Rocket Frog

The Broad-palmed Rocket Frog from above

 

The same Broad-palmed Rocket Frog from another angle

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the Red Tree Frogs again. Mainly because I don't often hear them in the front paddocks and it was calling out right beside me while I was looking for the Copper-backed Toadlet that I heard calling. To be honest I thought it was the Keferstein's Tree Frog from the picture but the call was that of the Red Tree Frog. I have so much trouble telling these two frogs apart on the property. Unfortunately I didn't find the Copper-backed Toadlet either. Hopefully while the flooding is still around I can get some pictures of the other species that are found or at least heard regularly on the property.

Red Tree Frog calling

Red Tree Frog calling from a slightly different angle

More pics as soon as I can photograph some more of the species on the property.