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.

Frogging at my Property at Coles Creek with a Friend

Last Saturday night I invited one of my friends over to do some frogging around the property. I thought that it would be a good night for it as many species had ben seen in the few weeks prior and she has never seen many of the species here, even though she only lives 20 km away.

We had quite a lot of rain throughout the day so all the creeks had come up higher again but as long as it wasn't raining more of the species would be out. I rang her just after dark when it stopped raining as it looked like we had a few hours until the next rain was coming through.

As soon as she arrived we went to have a look for the Wilcox's Frog. We only saw a few tonight but at least she got to see them. In this same area we heard some of the unidentified toadlets or froglets calling out, along with many Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs, Striped Marsh Frogs and some Striped Rocket Frogs. We located some of each of these in the area too.

One of the few Wilcox's Frogs that were seen tonight

The next 3 photos show the only place on the property where Wilcox's Frogs are found. This is a small area. What makes this habitat so different from the rest of the property is the hard soil beside the floodway and the small rocks on the edge of the dam, also this water runs through here for a few months during the wet season whereas the majority of the rest of the property the water is still once the flooding recedes.

This is a floodway between two dams with running water

The same habitat from the other side of the floodway

Most of the Wilcox's Frogs are found on the small rocks on this dam wall

 

Just after we saw the Wilcox's Frogs the torch battery started going flat, so we quickly went back to the house to get a new battery. On the way back out of the house we noticed a Keferstein's Tree Frog on the lawn. They are seen here fairly often but more often they can be seen near or on the shed or house. We didn't spend much time looking for any more or trying to get a great shot as this was one species my friend had seen before.

 



Keferstein's Tree Frog

The next 3 pictures are of the main dam close to the house. In this area Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs are the most common along with Striped Rocket Frogs along the banks. Occasionally I will see Red Tree Frogs and Keferstein's Tree Frogs down here also. During the lead up to the wet season Peron's Tree Frogs move from their breeding area and can be seen in this area as all other water on the property except one creek which is quite a distance from here has dried up.

Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs are regulars on these water plants

After flooding this area stays like this for weeks which attracts Striped Rocket Frogs in particular

The Rocket Frogs gather in their hundreds in this area each night

 

While we were walking around hundreds of Dainty Tree Frogs could be heard. As these are quite common in the whole area and we were running short on time we decided to go have a look for the Peron's and Tyler's Tree Frogs as we could hear a few calling out earlier. I was concerned that this creek may have risen too much to be able to cross safely with all the rain during the day. Luckily it hadn't come up much at all. To get to both of these frogs you need to go to the trees in the creek. The water was up just past my groin and my friend is a lot shorter than me so it was up to her belly button nearly. We did find both frogs but it wasn't as suitable tonight as they often don't call out while it is actually raining and it started raining just as we got to their area. Luckily it stopped within 5 minutes and a few started to call out so we could locate them. I was surprised to see that each of the frogs I located tonight were in the same trees as they were earlier on in the week.

 

 

Peron's Tree Frog

 

Tyler's Tree Frog

The next 2 photos are the habitat where the Tyler's Tree Frogs and the Peron's Tree Frogs are found. On occasions they can be heard in other locations on the property but this area has many of each species here. This habitat is different from other places on the property as there are bushy trees that are in the water with branches that are low and close to the water. Most of the other creeks and dams only have trees on the banks, some of which overhang the water.

More Tyler's Tree Frogs are found in this section

More Peron's Tree Frogs are found in this section

Next we headed off towards the Great Barred Frogs which we could hear calling out from down the property. On the way I heard several Tusked Frogs calling out. We decided to go have a look. I told my friend that we most likely wouldn't see them, which we didn't but we did get to hear several calling out. The creeks where they are found had risen a few meters since the other day so we didn't even bother trying to photograph them.

The next 2 photos show the places where the Tusked Frogs can be heard calling out at the moment. All the habitat photos were taken 7 days later and the water has dropped significantly, especially in this creek. Within the week it may be possible to have a good look for them as the water may be shallow enough, if it doesn't rain much. The water in these photos looks deceptively shallow. I pushed one leg into the water on the right and it is full of rotting leaf litter and small sticks and I went up to my groin! I learnt my lesson the other week going into these areas. This habitat differs from other areas of the property as the sticks, branches, logs and leaf and grass litter build up in deep water making it into a sludge.

This is the main habitat area of the Tusked Frogs at the start of the creek

 

The Tusked Frogs are found at the other end of the creek also

 

We saw several Great Barred Frogs just on the edge of their habitat but we could hear dozens of others further in the bush. We both got some great photos of the first few that my friend spotted so we didn't bother looking for the others as we knew it could start raining soon and we wanted to check out the flooded front paddocks.

 

 

Great Barred Frog

The next 3 photos are of the original habitat of the Great Barred Frogs. The other area where they are now found looks identical to this. This habitat is different from other parts of the property as all the grass is very short due to the types of ground cover that grow in this area. In this area many types of ferns grow also. There is also a lot of leaf litter around this area and in some places the leaf litter can reach 30 cm deep. Also the banks of this creek are very steep and there is always water in this creek and the creek in the other area all year round.

Males are heard calling here most nights during the wet season

The water level is quite a lot lower than the top of the bank

The short ground cover is ideal for the Great Barred Frogs

Next we went out to the front paddocks. This is an area of about 15 acres. The whole area was under water. In one of the paddocks it was only about ankle deep, where we heard many hundreds of Dainty Tree Frogs. Even though we saw many we didn't get any decent shots due to the length of the grass here at the moment. The sound of them was deafening for a short period. I was surprised to see so many out the front. They are often seen out there but not in those numbers, and they are not usually as active when it isn't actually raining. Maybe they knew something we didn't. It was just about to start raining again!!

As quickly as we could we waded through the water which started getting deeper. The second paddock at the front of the property had water ranging from knee deep to groin depth. We heard hundreds of Eastern Dwarf Tree Frogs here as usual and Common Froglets could also be heard in large numbers. We found many of each species too. Many Striped Rocket Frogs and Striped Marsh Frogs could also be heard. Unfortunately it started to rain heavily so we had to retreat to the house and we missed out on getting many photos of the frogs in the front paddocks.

A good nights frogging overall and my friend had a great time, at least with seeing different species of frogs that she hadn't seen before. After 2 1/2 hours of walking around wading through deep water and getting rained on a few times we were both quite cold. It was great to have someone else out frogging with me enjoying the beautiful frogs that Australia has to offer!

Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

Another Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

The Common Froglet just after calling from his post

 

This is one of the front paddocks a week after the heavy rain

The water here is still between 30 and 60 cm deep



The water stays here like this for a few months until it dries up

Thousands of tadpoles can be seen in here at the moment

The Common Froglet mainly stays close to the edge of the tree line

This whole paddock has a thick layer of rotting leaves beneath the water

Striped Marsh Frogs can be seen basically anywhere on the property on land or shallow water. The photo below shows one of the areas where they are more densely populated than the rest of the property. They are heard calling in massive numbers which becomes deafening at times from the small clumps of leaves and sticks at the base of the trees.

Main habitat for the Striped Marsh Frogs

Hopefully in the next week I will be able to get into the area where the Tusked Frogs are found and I will be able to put up a new post.

Another Collection of Frogs from my Coles Creek Property

I went out tonight to see if I could get a few more shots of the toadlet that is very common on the property as I have few decent pictures of them. Before I went to the main area where they are found I decided to see if there were any Wilcox's Frogs out tonight. I was pleased to see they were out in larger numbers tonight. I saw about 15 different individuals tonight. Unfortunately I have only seen them in an area that is about 100 square meters that is between the two dams.

Wilcox's Frog

Another Wilcox's Frog

Another specimen of the same species

As I was heading to another part of the property where the Peron's Tree Frogs are found in decent numbers I saw this Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog. As always this time of year, they numbered thousands. I took a photo of this one as he was sitting on the branch below one of the Peron's Tree Frogs. I saw approximately 40 Peron's Tree Frogs and heard many more calling out. Their numbers have increased quite a lot over the last two years.

Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

Peron's Tree Frog

While I was in taking the photos of the Peron's Tree Frogs I heard another frog calling out. To start with I thought it must have been a Peron's Tree Frog with a slight variation to its call. Within a few minutes I could hear 20 or so individuals calling out and they all sounded the same. After closer investigation I found that it was actually a different frog. They were Tyler's Tree Frogs! Their call has some similarities to the Peron's Tree Frogs but can be distinguished easily enough. This is the first time I can say I have definitely heard them on the property and definitely the first time I have seen them here. Actually it is the first time I have seen them anywhere and photographed them! I was very excited to find over 30 of them living amongst the Peron's Tree Frogs.

Tyler's Tree Frog

The same Tyler's Tree Frog from a different angle

The same Tyler's Tree Frog from below

Another Tyler's Tree Frog calling from the trunk of a sapling

The same Tyler's Tree Frog from above from a different angle

The Great barred Frogs were very vocal tonight. Probably the loudest I have heard them since I have lived here. Both areas in which they are found were very active tonight, with more individuals sighted than ever in just a small section of their area. I didn't stay in the area long to photograph them as they are out in large numbers regularly during the wet season. I began looking for the Tusked Frogs that I could faintly hear in between the calls of the Great Barred Frogs. I found the area where they were calling but I couldn't locate any to photograph. There were about 15 or so calling out tonight which is the most I have heard in one place. They are definitely one of the hardest frogs to locate due to the habitat in which they live. I didn't even try to move any debris to find them as I knew I couldn't get into that part of the creek. It looked shallow (looked like about 30 cm deep), but as soon as I took one step in I was up passed my waist in water and debris. Just managed to save my camera actually! I will try again in the coming days if the weather permits.

One of the many Great Barred Frogs

The Common Froglets were out in large numbers again tonight. I wanted to increase my chances of finding them so I went to the flooded front paddock out the front of the property. They would most likely number thousands in the front paddock alone. I hear them all the time and at times they can be deafening to the point where you can't stand in the area as the pitch hurts your ears if they all start calling at the same time. This is the first time I have got a decent photo of them. I have always been looking in the wrong place. I assumed that they were calling out just below the water or under the debris of leaves and sticks, mainly on the land. Tonight I happened to find one in the deeper water, about 40 cm deep, holding itself in the reeds by pushing itself against the reeds so they could support themselves. As soon as I bumped the reeds they fell in the water as they don't have any pads. I was very surprised to se them in the reeds like this at all. The more I looked the more I found doing the same thing. I found more than 20 doing this same thing in a matter of minutes. This could explain why I have seen so few of them but always heard them in large numbers. I have been looking in the wrong place! Unfortunately I couldn't hold the torch and the camera around the reeds to get a photo that was in focus. I did find one on the edge of the water in the leaves that I could photograph luckily.

 Common Froglet

Shot from above of a Common Froglet

As I was walking back to the house the Striped Marsh Frogs were making a tremendous noise all calling out together. When they call out one at a time it is quite a faint sound. When many hundreds, if not thousands all call out at once it is a different story. Below is just one of the culprits.

Striped Marsh Frog

After finding the Tyler's Tree Frogs on the property tonight that now takes the frog species on the property to a definite 22 that have been photographed and identified and there are  2 others that I have seen on a few occasions but am yet to photograph. I am sure that there are a few other calls that I hear from time to time also that I haven't identified as yet. It is very exciting to have so many frog species on the property, especially when about 14 of these are seen regularly during the wet season.