Frogwatch Field Guide to Victorian Frogs by Jean-Marc Hero, Murray Littlejohn and Gerry Marantelli. Paperback book published by Department of Conservation & Environment Victoria 1991.
After a long hard day at the office, there is nothing I like better than heading over to the local creek to listen to frogs. There’s a beautiful surround sound spot at the other end of town where you can stand on a causeway and enjoy perfect 5.1 froggy digital. This may sound a bit strange (what I do… not the frogs), but it is beautiful and to be honest, I don’t to it for hours, a few minutes is plenty.
Frogwatch, the organization who put this book together, mentions in their blurb the listening to of frogs. Obviously I’m not the only one who enjoys the sound of frogs. I have a friend who has a tank full of frogs and he managed to identify the frogs in the creek here in Clunes from my crappy phone recordings* (… yes I have recorded the sound of frogs on my phone)… I think he likes the sound of frogs as well.
Frogs as we all know, are having a hard time of it as wetlands become not wetlands and lengthy droughts dry up the wetlands that are left. This book was published by the Department of Conservation & Environment Victoria and was designed to create and foster interest in Victorian frogs and hopefully help in preventing further stress on frog numbers. It’s very user friendly and has great pictures to help with identification. I like this book, which is why I’ve written about it.
Recently I came home fairly late and it was raining cats and dogs (not frogs). There I was with a box of books under one arm struggling with keys to get in the door when I saw this out of the corner of my eye:
Sorry for the blurred photo. It was late, it was raining and I didn’t have my glasses on. Now as hard as this is to believe I know someone who is amazing with picking animals from my dodgy photos and descriptions and usually when I email them there is a fairly quick response with excellent answers. The reply to this inquiry was very enlightening. This frog is probably not native to Victoria. It’s an import, probably from Queensland and if you go to this website and have a look at the frogs of Victoria, it’s possibly that little guy known as the Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog, which is listed under Victoria but isn’t from Victoria (very confusing)… or maybe not. I must put my glasses on next time I take a photo.
So if you’re a tad interested in this book…
It's introduced but not anative frog species to Victoria if that's what you mean.
ReplyDeleteYep, that's correct. I haven't seen any since i took this photo, but i do here various frogs in my garden... which is nice.
ReplyDelete