Mallee Frog Blog

I haven't posted on the frogs for a while. We've had a wet winter, but it's also been quite cool, and they've been very quiet. Could also be that the ducks have discovered the frog pond every so often and they've been scared!

Tonight I stood outside and for the first time this winter heard a single spotted marsh frog call, from the pond. Listening closer, I realised I could hear a lot of frog calls, coming from the direction of Manangatang. I could make out spotted marsh frog, spadefoot toad and pobblebonk. It must be noisy in there! Weird that we aren't hearing more here. The dam has been full of water all winter, and now it's nice and clear fresh water (not the greywater). Maybe they liked the anonymity of the greywater? Actually the pond has also become quite clear. 

The greywater is currently running into the big dry dam next door, and has created a frog habitat par excellence. Lots of grass and a cascade of ponds as the greywater spills down and infiltrates. There must be some there now.

It has rained another 4mm. The frogs have been carrying on these last few nights while it's been cloudy and warm. There are a mixture of spotted marsh frog and spadefoot calls coming from the dam during the evenings, and the spotted marsh frog is also calling during the day. I've taken the greywater out of the dam to let it freshen up a bit - was going a bit green and not looking as healthy as it should. 

There are no frog calls from the pond. Perhaps the ducks did get them all? But given the numbers to start with, it seems unlikely. The pond is still very full, maybe they're just not getting the right 'vibe' from it.

Our dam up at the north end of Jones road has nearly dried out. In the water at the bottom there are plenty of mosquito wrigglers. I'm hoping there'll be a frog feeding frenzy (on the wrigglers) before they mature. 

After what seems to have been a very hot summer, it rained on Tuesday and Wednesday. It has cooled down quite a bit too, to low 20s. The rain was only a couple of millimetres, but enough for the frogs. The spotted marsh frog (only one that I could hear) from the pond was calling early evening, in the middle of the night, and even at 7am! It is calling again this evening - lovely to hear it back again (and reassuring to know that it wasn't eaten by the ducks).

The ducks have had their flight feathers clipped and have been confined to the orchard since they got into the pond. It is looking much better!

I looked up with some trepidation today to see two of my daughter's ducks circling the pond, above the scrub. They did many laps (must be fit), and eventually one landed. I raced out there but, too late, it looks like they've already found it, at least today. Much of the more delicate pond weed has been eaten and I hate to think how many juicy frogs they might have found.

Radical changes are likely in the ducks lifestyle over the next day! I guess we had it too good, for too long. I'm rather fond of eating duck but apparently that's not an option - yet.

We missed most of January, being on holidays! Fortunately we missed out on some hot weather (we came back to 45C in late January), the pond stayed full, and the ducks (my daughter has 7 young ducks) didn't discover the pond. We have been worrying about the ducks since they were born, but to the end of January (getting pretty big) they have been fine.

We had more visitors towards the end of January, and they were also able to find frogs. An exciting find was a frog with darker spots and quite a well developed tail. I wonder if it's a Pobblebonk?