Lake Broadwater Fires Up

It's not their fault they don't have feathers! Doesn't make them any less interesting. And just like the birds, it's good to know what species are about locally at any given time.

There's expertise within the club and beyond on most aspects of our local fauna. Let's tap into it.
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Rod Hobson
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:03 am

Lake Broadwater Fires Up

Post by Rod Hobson »

Folks,

I had last Wednesday and Thursday working at Lake Broadwater which, with this ongoing deluge of southern Queensland, is looking in very good trim at present. The weather was wet and miserable, windy, during my visit and the birds were keeping a low profile. Eleven Glossy Ibis braving the elements and four Turquoise Parrots near the bird hide were the avian highlights for my time there. Turquoise Parrots turn up there but rarely and Thursday's sighting was my first personal record for the lake. Lots of Red-rumped Parrots have transmorgified into Turquoise Parrots around the lake over the years I suspect.

On the Wednesday night Plaxy Barratt, Sonja Wapstra and I did a few hours night-driving for reptiles and frogs back and forth along the Lake Broadwater Road. Unfortunately the night was too cool for snakes and lizards but not so for their amphibian counterparts. Frogs were everywhere, not only abundant in sheer numbers but also in the variety of species out and about. The most common species seen were Spotted Grass Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) and Striped Burrowing Frog (Cyclorana alboguttata); the latter a very handsome amphibian.

The rain had also brought up quite a few Scarlet-sided Pobblebonks (Limnodynastes terraereginae), a stout chap also appropriately known as the Southern Bullfrog. Salmon-striped Frogs (Limnodynastes salmini) also responded quite well to the drenching and we saw several of these very impressive frogs during our drive. The smally fry were out and about as well including the two local gungans, Uperoleia rugosa and U. laevigata.

The least common frogs found on the night were one each of the Rough Frog (Cyclorana verrucosa) and Sudell's Frog (Neobatrachus sudelli). The soil-dwelling Rough Frog is declared a rare and threatened species under Queensland legislation.

The night was a cacophony of frog-call. The puppy-yaps of the Long-thumbed or Barking Frog (Limnodynastes fletcheri) competed with the 'pobblebonking' of the pobblebonks and all about was the duck-quacking of the Striped Burrowing Frog, also known as the Quacking Cyclorana. Every amorous frog with a puddle to sit in was giving it his best.

Other frogs that we recorded on the night were Common Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea), Naked Tree Frog (Litoria rubella), Emerald-spotted Tree Frog (Litoria peroni), Ornate Burrowing Frog (Opisthodon ornatum) and Common Froglet (Crinia parinsignifera). Unfortunately, try as we did we didn't manage to find the lake's most curious denizen, the Holy Cross or Crucifix Frog (Notaden bennetti); surely one of Australia's great frogs.

This frog cornucopia was reflected in our recording of three Red-bellied Black Snakes (Pseudechis porphyriacus) in the general vicinity of the lake on the Thursday morning. This beautiful snake is very partial to a froggy meal. It will also eat other large and dangerous snakes including the very venomous Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis).

So all considered not a bad night's froggin' at all. And nary a Cane Toad to be seen - yet!

Regards,
Rod Hobson
Last edited by Rod Hobson on Fri Mar 12, 2010 8:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
Rod Hobson
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:03 am

On Further Matters Amphibious

Post by Rod Hobson »

Folks,

Our recording of the Salmon-striped Frog (Limnodynastes salmini) reported in my posting, "Some Fauna of McEwan's State Forest" on 27.02.10 prompted me to enquire of a mate of mine, Chris Corben, regarding old salmini records of his from the area around the mouth of the Brisbane River. This has generated quite a bit of e-mail between Chris and me that has drawn in fellow froggers Harry Hines, Greg Czechura, Ian Gynther, Terry Reis and Richard Johnson.

I have never personally seen this frog east of the range in SEQ but Chris replied that he had indeed recorded the species, "... around Eagle Farm but ... before all the redevelopment and relocation of the airport" and " ... only on the north side of the river, and only in a small area of open country" on "roads that don't exist anymore." Chris also stated that the frog was also found quite widely throughout the Brisbane Valley and he didn't think that it was rare or restricted at the time. He states specifically that the species occurred around Lowood and south and west of there towards Gatton. The time that Chris refers to in this correspondence is up to and including the early 1990's.

Andrew Amey from the Queensland Museum kindly sent me records of specimens of this species from SEQ held in the Q.M. reference collection. There are ten records dating from 1918 (Bulimba) until April-May 1981(Gatton) including a specimen collected by Chris Corben near Lake Clarendon on 10.09.1974. Other specimens are from Nudgee, Bald Hills, Boondall, and Gayndah.

Greg Czechura informed me that he had records of this frog from Nudgee-Eagle Farm (early 1973) and the Crossdale-Bryden area (Dec. 1979-Jan 1980). Greg also thought that either Rick Natrass or Glen Ingram had recorded the frog "near Ipswich". I'll contact Glen about this soon.

Harry Hines told me that, "Since 1996 I've done quite a bit of poking around the subcoastal areas of SEQ east of the range in excellent frogging conditions and have never picked up L. salmini." Harry goes on to state, "I often get emailed frog photos for ID and chatted to many a frogger over the years and I am not aware of any L. salmini records in the area, at least since the late 1990's."

Richard, Terry and Ian replied that they'd neither seen nor had they heard of any records of the frog in SEQ since those already discussed. With the recent drenching rains Chris has made a serious effort on two occasions to visit his old Lockyer and Brisbane Valley frogging haunts especially to look for the Salmon-striped Frog but to no avail although he has got some good sightings of species such as Cyclorana brevipes and Cyclorana alboguttata. Both these frogs are uncommon in these areas.

It surely looks as if the Salmon-striped Frog has 'dropped off the map' in SEQ east of the range, as appears have other 'black soil' species such as the Spotted Black Snake (Pseudechis guttatus). Both these species still seem to be holding on west of the range in SEQ, especially on the black clays of the Brigalow Belt.

If any reader has records of Limnodynastes salmini from SEQ east of Toowoomba I'd be very happy to hear of them, especially if they are post the early 1990's.

Regards,
Rod Hobson
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Brendon & Judi Gray
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Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:08 pm
Location: Kleinton, Queensland.
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Salmon-Striped Frog at Kleinton

Post by Brendon & Judi Gray »

Rod, I have just sent you an email regarding this Frog. Kind Regard, Judi Gray.
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