Despite a burst of heavy rain yesterday, most of the frogs remain reluctant to emerge from their refuges. The orange-thighed green tree frogs (Litoria xanthomera) are not around, although they might be more active elsewhere. Several of my neighbours have toad-proof water containers that are popular with climbing frogs. I have blocked gutters and a terracotta dish. Not such prime real estate for an arboreal amphibian. I expect they'd be des. res. for those that live where rainfall is less reliable, but our frogs are fussy. They probably don't finish their greens either.
Among the terrestrial species, the striped marsh frogs are calling from under cover but are not moving around much. Stony Creek frogs (Litoria maybe jungguy, maybe wilcoxii, maybe a hybrid) are intermittently active. I've seen a few females around — they visit to pick up insects attracted to the house lights — but have yet to see a male here.(I took the pic below some time last year, I think.)
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| Stony Creek frog: but which one? |
Stony Creek frog taxonomy is a bit of a nightmare, hence my reluctance to slap a scientific name on this animal. I'll blog about it some more tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll be out with the spotlight tonight to see if any more frogs have been encouraged out of hiding by the rain. The leeches certainly have.
