more pics from Dharawal -- frogs

[moloch05]

Dharawal is a great place for frogs. I visited the park a number of time between late August and November and saw a variety of frogs. I believe that there are many others present that I did not encounter. Please feel free to offer corrections if my identifications are not accurate.

First, a few habitat shots above Maddens Falls.

Blue Mountains Tree Frog (Litoria citropa). These are a stunning species and one of my favourites. They seemed to be common early in the season.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c386/moloch05/Dharawal/Oct2007/blueMtnTree6.jpg[/mg]

[IMG]http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c386/moloch05/Dharawal/Oct2007/citropa1.jpg


I think this to be a Jervis Bay Tree Frog (Litoria jervisiensis):

Peron's Tree Frog (Litoria peroni) -- its loud call made it one of the most conspicuous frogs of the area

Green Stream Frog (Litoria phyllochroa) -- I saw few in the Dharawal area.

I think that this is a Verreaux's Tree Frog (Litoria verreauxi)

Stoney Creek Frogs (Litoria wilcoxi).

I think this to be an Eastern Common Froglet (Crinia signifera).

... mum, dad and the kids

I heard Eastern Banjo Frogs or Pobblebonks (Limnodynastes dumerili) calling when I visited at night but I could not locate them. I did find a couple the during the day as I walked along the creek bank. These frogs are well-named and their call sounds much like a single pluck of a banjo string. The colour phase at Dharawal was drab but in some places, they can be nicely marked with patches of yellow and red.

An interesting find was this Freshwater Crayfish that was foraging in a pool below Madden's Falls. This was the biggest of the crustaceans in the creek and it had a body length of about 20 cm .

... smaller animals were more common

Dog Rose, a common steamside plant

Regards,
David

 

[Tim.Arm]

Awsome shoots David.

 

[jack]

it really is a great spot for frogs... somewhere i have seen mention of the number of frog species...might be on an info sign there....
did you see the grinding grooves on the rocks in your travels?

 

[Nephrurus]

Righto, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the phyllachroa are meant to be an intermediate between phyllachroa and nudidigita...

I'm pretty sure the wilcoxi you get there have lovely blue legs so are therefore lesueuri.

Everything else looked ok.

There's a heap of other frogs you get down there in that area. It's a great spot!

-H

 

[Vincent21]

Awesome pictures!

 

[skakavacjakovac]

Wow!! awsome shots..& what a variety!! you hit the jackpot there! Great work!

 

[JasonL]

Righto, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the phyllachroa are meant to be an intermediate between phyllachroa and nudidigita...

-H

Really?? they have a intergrade zone for them now????hahahahaha Damb splitters.. I spoke to Ken about them, he said they were phyllachroa at Darkies....have they been throwing them in the blender?

 

[JasonL]

These Banjo's were all found around Maddens Falls, they are very variable.

 

[urodacus_au]

Nice ones David, the citropa and phyllochroa are great looking frogs. Going to be a long cold winter, looks like a bit of frogging is the go.

Cheers
Jordan

 

[anguskennedy]

Great photos! Anyone know what the little jelly looking parasite things on the crayfish's claws are?

 

[JasonL]

Great photos! Anyone know what the little jelly looking parasite things on the crayfish's claws are?

branchiobdellidae.

 

[moloch05]

Thanks, everyone, for the comments.

I am glad that you have added some of your pics from Dharawal, Jason. Do you have more?

Jack,
I have a photo of the sign but so far, I haven't relocated it. I believe that there are something like 24 species of frogs known from the reserve.

I have not noticed the grinding groves ... but I am not so observant of such things. I would probably walk right by them.


Henry,
Do you have a link to a website with the latest frog classifications?


Jordan,
We have some nice frogs here, but it is pretty hard to beat some of those in the west like this one from Cape Le Grand:

Angus,
Can you see the parasites in my photos? If so, I must be blind!


Regards,
David

 

[JasonL]

More??? I have tons... . I couldn't see them on your cray either, but they will be there, all large crays have them.

 

[anguskennedy]

They are the tiny little red jelly like things on the claws, as Jason has stated they are apparently branchiobdellidae - your knowledge amazes me!

I always wondered what they were, i have found some similar crayfish in the past that have had hundreds of them.

Again amazing photos David - do your field expeditions (which always seem spectacular!) inspire you to keep frogs as well as reptiles at home?

 

[ryanharvey1993]

nice pictures, love L. wilcoxi we find them a fair bit. pobblebonk frogs look so strange.

 

[JasonL]

more

 

[JasonL]

more...

 

[Tirilia]

Oh my.. what a beautiful place!

That green and silver frog from Cape Le Grand is amazing!

Great pictures!

 

[Stergo]

Man i have tried for ages to identify a crayfish near my area of Glenhaven in Sydney's west. He's huge now, the size of a medium lobster and his nippers are twice the size of the one you saw but for ages i thought it was a yabby or a lobster so thanks for helping me see what it finnaly was. Love your shots.

 

[JasonL]

and some more