# Windorah, Queensland 3 -- Floods and Frogs



## moloch05 (Dec 7, 2008)

A huge thunderstorm hit the Windorah area on the afternoon as we approached from the south. Flash floods cut the road for awhile in the afternoon until the water levels dropped once again. We arrived late so we weren't delayed but we could see debris on the road. There were pools on the sides of the roads and these pools attracted many frogs. These were quite exciting to us since they were mostly frogs from the centre that we had not previously encountered. Most are burrowing species that only emerge after heavy rains.












Within a couple of days, these pools also attracted many water birds. Most of the birds in this pic are Pink-eared Ducks (shoverler-like bill) with a few Grey Teal. We also saw flocks of Glossy Ibis, Yellow-billed Spoonbills, White-headed Herons, Black-tailed Native Hens, Black-winged Stilts, Red-kneed Plovers and others.






Brolga even turned up one day.






One of the loudest calls was made by Knife-footed Frogs (_Cyclorana cultripes_). This species is one of the smaller inland burrowing frogs. They looked quite comical when they were so inflated.











... some were so muddy that they looked like they had just emerged.











... others
















Two nights later, we re-visited this pool and there were hardly any frogs remaining at all. The frenzy must have only lasted one or two nights.






The big New Holland Frogs (_Cyclorana novaehollandiae_) were also in the pools. Their loud call ("wonk") was often heard. 











We also heard what I think were Water-holding Frogs (_Cyclorana platycephala_) but we could never locate the calling frogs. This one was so pale that I thought at first that it might be a _Cyclorana platycephala_ but I think that it was probably a lightly marked _C. novaehollandiae_.






Broad-palmed Frogs (_Litoria latopalmata_) were very local. We found many but only at one pond in brushy habitat. The frogs tended to call from depressions so were not easy to find.






Desert Tree Frogs (_Litoria rubella_) were common. They were also hard to spot since they called from the base of grass thickets near the water.






Green Tree Frogs (_Litoria caerulea_) are a wide-ranging species found over much of Australia. It seemed odd to see these frogs at Windorah after seeing many in the wet tropical forests of far-north Queensland earlier this year.






Desert Froglets (_Crinia deserticola_) were tiny frogs that were easy to hear but not so easy to spot.






I am not certain but I think these odd looking creatures are Trilling Frogs (_Neobatrachis centralis_). We saw large numbers of them but only on ponds with lots of fine silt. The frogs would float near the surface with only their eyes or sometimes the top of their heads protruding above the surface. It was an eerie sight to scan to water with a spotlight and see lots of eyes but nothing else. Most of these frogs were pale but some were more strongly marked (I assume they are all the same species but I could be wrong).
... strongly marked form:










... pale form:





















The frog that we enjoyed the most was this Desert Spadefoot Toad (_Notaden nichollsi_), a relative of the beautiful Southern Cross Frog. We only saw this single animal in an area of red sand near Windorah.
















One afternoon, we drove back to the pools to see what else might be around. We found and followed this huge Yellow-spotted Monitor (_Varanus panoptes_) for awhile. It seemed to be hunting around the edge of the water. We saw it stop and sniff at the ground but never actually saw it catch anything. 































The monitor allowed us to closely approach it. It looked a little annoyed but did not appear frightened at all. I suppose that it knew that it could rip us to shreds with its claws if necessary.











We visited Cooper's Creek a few times. 






... Australian Pelicans, Royal Spoonbills, Little Black Cormorants:






Water in this creek is permanent and there were many turtles although they were almost impossible to photograph. This was the only shot that I could take, a dead Cooper's Creek Turtle (_Emydura macquarii emmotti_).






Regards,
David


----------



## froggyboy86 (Dec 7, 2008)

Great photos as always David. Good to see pictures of C. cultripes - a lot of the photos in field guides and on the web seem to be mis-ID's ... but the call is quite distinctive. Shame you didn't get any platycephala, they can be tricky to find in flooded grasslands because they are very aquatic and tend to duck down quickly under water when disturbed. I'm impressed you got C. deserticola, it was one species that eluded me out west this summer!

Aaron


----------



## moloch05 (Dec 8, 2008)

Thanks, Aaron. The call of the C. cultripes matches that on the "Frogs of Australia" website. The little Crinia was common by call but only on some of the flooded areas. It seemed to prefer flooded grasslands.

Regards,
David


----------



## moloch05 (Dec 9, 2008)

On FieldHerpForum, one of the participants asked me about the strange body form of the _Notaden_ frogs. Has anyone ever read about anything about why these frogs have such flat faces and round bodies?

The guy who asked came up with an idea that sounds quite plausible to me (I had referred him to Henry's post last year of the frogs from Nyngan):



> Thanks for the link to the Notaden bennettii photos. Looking at all the water-bloated frogs on that page as well as yours, I had a thought about a potential advantage of the flat face. Neobatrachus and Notaden are both not only flat-faced but overall extremely rounded everywhere. And they both hold large quantities of water in their bodies to take advantage of ephemeral rainfall. Maybe the general almost-spherical shape is an evolutionary advantage for retaining maximal quantities of water, and the flat face is just one detail of that overall shape.


----------



## froggyboy86 (Dec 11, 2008)

I think you are correct the rounded body shape helps to retain water and since they spend long periods underground there is very little need to develop a lean physique. I think the flattened mouth of the Notaden reflects more its dietary choice of ants and termites. The mouth flicks open and shut very quickly and their prey items are small so they haven't needed huge jaws like the Cyclorana spp.


----------



## krusty (Dec 12, 2008)

cool pics once again.looks like it was a realy big yellow spotted


----------

