# more pics from Dharawal -- frogs



## moloch05 (Jun 2, 2008)

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


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## Tim.Arm (Jun 2, 2008)

*Awsome shoots David.*


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## jack (Jun 2, 2008)

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?


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## Nephrurus (Jun 2, 2008)

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


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## Vincent21 (Jun 2, 2008)

Awesome pictures!


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## skakavacjakovac (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

Nephrurus said:


> 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?


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## urodacus_au (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## anguskennedy (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

anguskennedy said:


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



branchiobdellidae.


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## moloch05 (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## anguskennedy (Jun 3, 2008)

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?


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## ryanharvey1993 (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

more


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

more...


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## Tirilia (Jun 3, 2008)

Oh my.. what a beautiful place! 

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

Great pictures!


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## Stergo (Jun 3, 2008)

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.


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

and some more


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

Stergo said:


> 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.



There are two species of freshwater crayfish in Sydney, the small smooth freshwater cray (they are red) and the large Sydney Spiny Tailed Cray. There are not any Yabbies naturally found on this side of the divide, though they have been introduced into dams ect..


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## moloch05 (Jun 3, 2008)

Jason,

I enjoyed your pics. Your habitat shots are beautiful as are the frogs. I also have pics of Freycinet's Frogs but they are on a computer back in Wollongong (I am in Hobart at the moment).

What was the third frog in your last set of pics? A littlejohn's? To me, there seemed to be a progression of frogs through the spring with citropa being the most common early on followed by wilcoxi followed by freycinet's. Perons were active all of the time.


Angus,
When I was in high school and uni (long ago), I loved to keep herps as pets. I had a room full of tanks with animals that I collected in the desert (California). Now, I have no interest in that at all. I really want to "capture" images of the animals as they appear in the wild.


Regards,
David


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## urodacus_au (Jun 3, 2008)

Nice cyclorhyncha  I guess you just get used to seeing whats in your backyard, that animal is very similar to a lot of the moorei we get locally.

Jordan


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## moloch05 (Jun 3, 2008)

Thanks for the comments, Ryan, Tirilia and Stergo.

Ryan, pobblebonks are strange frogs ... such an odd shape.

Stergo,
Your cray sounds huge! Have you seen those from rainforest of northern NSW or se QLD? Their colours are spectacular. Here is one from Lamington NP. Other people on the trail told us of entirely blue animals as well.













Regards,
David


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## urodacus_au (Jun 3, 2008)

L moorei from Perth, similar beast, havent photographed cyclorhyncha yet.....


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## moloch05 (Jun 3, 2008)

Thanks, Jordan. Beautiful frog. They are really stunning.

Regards,
David


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## serpenttongue (Jun 3, 2008)

Moloch and jason, have you guys ever seen Lacies or Heath Monitors in this area?


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## moloch05 (Jun 3, 2008)

I don't have photos but Jason has posted some good ones of both species here:

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...es/pics-from-royal-national-park-79215/page-3


Regards,
David


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## JasonL (Jun 3, 2008)

It's a L. dentata David and your right about the progression it's changes each time you go there. Nick, I havn't seen any monitors in that area, though Lacy's would be there, it not really the habitat for Heaths, maybe some in the dryer areas though, I usually just go there for the frogs.


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## tnarg (Jun 12, 2008)

The 3rd frog is Lit. jervisiensis, not dentata. Dentata have a red iris and undivided back stripe. As for the first frog photos posted the first "phyllochora" is indeed phyllochroa but the second is nudidigitus, and yeah the wilcoxi are lesueurii.

Interesting that you found dumerilii during the day. They are quite variable down there becuase both subspecies occur there, Jason, the ones you posted, 3 of them are dumerilii dumerilii and the other (the 3rd pic) is dumerilii grayi.

I was down at Dharawal last weekend and found these species: Lit. littlejohni, Lit. jervisiensis, Lit. verreauxii, Lit. peronii, Crinia signifera, Paracrinia haswelli and Limnodynastes peronii.

Cheers,
Grant


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## moloch05 (Jun 12, 2008)

Thanks for the info, tnarg. I will have to give Dharawal a try again before too long. Are the frogs active all winter?

Regards,
David


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## JasonL (Jun 12, 2008)

Winter is worth a visit David, as some species are winter breeders, there will be heaps less frogs active, but you might find a species that you can't find in summer.


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## tnarg (Jun 12, 2008)

Yeah its still good frogging at Dharawal in winter, different frogs but still lots of them.


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