Find a Frog in February

Post

Subscribe

Fri 01 Feb 2019 - Thu 28 Feb 2019

The Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee need your help to find frogs! is a citizen science programme that enables the community to help close the knowledge gaps that exist for our local frogs.

If you live in or around the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Noosa, Gympie or Fraser Coast Council Regions, February is the month to get involved in community frog monitoring, by collecting data to help improve the plight of frogs, through awareness and thoughtful management.



The community's assistance is required to find out where the frogs are living, in particular in and around the Mary River catchment - from Maleny to Hervey Bay and west to Conondale and Kilkivan - and in coastal areas from Peregian to Burrum Heads and even Fraser Island (K'Gari).

Frogs are very important components of ecosystems and are easily affected by changes in the air, water and land, making them excellent indicators of the region's environmental health. Due to habitat loss, pollution and disease, frogs are in dire trouble, with many being on the endangered and vulnerable lists.



The good news is, you don't have to be a biologist to help , as you don't need to identify the frogs at all. The Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee just want you to take note of the location; to take photos and to record the frog calls - that sounds like toad-ally awesome fun to me!

To give you a hopping good start to finding frogs in February, here's a list of endangered, rare, threatened and vulnerable frog species and in some instances, including the areas that they might be found. Perhaps you don't even live in any of these areas but are planning a camping trip - how exciting would that be to do some night-time frogging.



& #128056 ; Giant Barred Frog | Endangered

Giant Barred Frogs are very large and powerfully built - they can grow up to 115mm in length. They are blotched light and dark brown, which helps with camouflaging in leaf litter. The Giant Barred Frog's pupil is vertical with a golden-coloured iris - this is if you manage to get close enough. Their call is a deep guttural 'ork'.

& #127810 ; Places to look:

These endangered frogs are generally found along freshwater streams with permanent or semi-permanent water, generally (but not always) at lower elevations. Moist riparian habitats such as rainforests are preferred by these frogs for the deep leaf litter that provides shelter and foraging.
Places to look are Gympie south and anywhere especially along Tinana Creek; to the east of Gympie (Amamoor, Kandanga, Yabba), Munna, Wide Bay (not likely) west of Maryborough.



& #128056 ; Cascade Treefrog | Vulnerable

The Cascade Treefrog is a small frog with a very variable colouration that can change seasonally. The Cascade Treefrog's colouration can range from green to various combinations of green and brown to dark brown, with or without black spots or darkly marbled and blotched. The Cascade Treefrog has a white or cream belly with toes that have extensive webbing.

& #127810 ; Places to look:

Cascade Treefrogs inhabit streams in rainforests and can be located under logs, rocks, rotting leaf litter and moist soil cavities adjacent to the water edge during the day.



& #128056 ; Tusked Frog | Vulnerable

The Tusked frog is a medium-sized species of frog that gets its name from the very large pair of teeth in its lower jaw. It has a dark brown or dark grey back, with a butterfly-shaped marking between the eyes. The Tusked frog's call is a single 'tok' or 'cluck' repeated several times a minute.

& #127810 ; Places to look:

The Tusked frog is difficult to find as it hides in vegetation and logs next to puddles, streams and ditches. According to the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee, the Tusked frog appears to be in many places in many habitats.

& #128056 ; Coastal group of Wallum Froglet, Wallum Rocketfrog, Wallum Sedgefrog and Cooloola Sedgefrog | All Threatened



& #128056 ; Green-thighed Frog | Rare

Green-thighed frogs are small frogs that get their name from the bright green or blue-green colour on their groins and back of the thighs.

& #127810 ; Places to look:

Green-thighed frogs will be found after heavy rain, anywhere from upper catchment, west of the Mary from Gympie north; any coastal areas; Tinana catchment and Kin Kin Creek.

Here is some ribbeting information to help wannabe froggers




All records will be stored in the WildNet database of the Queensland Government, where they can be accessed by researchers, environmental planners and anybody else who is interested in frog business.

Can we de-pond on you to help save our frogs? Their very existence depends on you and me - we really need to make sure they stop croaking it! Don't fro-get to !

All images courtesy of Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee Facebook

#unusual_things_to_do
#sunshine_coast_surrounds
#peregian_springs
#peregian_beach
#noosa
#near_sunshine_coast
#maleny
#free
#environment
#conondale
#community_events
#child_friendly
#animals_wildlife
#february
!date 01/02/2019 -- 28/02/2019
%wnsunshinecoast