Mallee Frog Blog

The frogs have been quiet for about three weeks now. They made a bit of noise in early April but have not been heard for at least two weeks! Going quiet seemed to coincide with some cooler nights that we had back then. We are still getting warm days though and today one of the kids saw a black snake out near the pond. Interesting to contemplate how many frogs that snake might have had!

The frog pond has made a big difference to the birds. We used to have many house sparrows (Passer domesticus), but their numbers are now way down (although that coincides with doing some work on the house which may have made their lives difficult too). These days there is a flock of grass parrots in residence - we think they are Mallee Ringnecks (Barnardius barnardi). It used to be a special occasion seeing these but now we see them everyday! Galahs (Cacatua roseicapilla), magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) and white winged choughs (Corcorax melanorhamphos; before we knew better we used to call these crows) are regulars.

When I was a kid, I remember the white winged choughs used to be found in the treelines along roads. Back then, they wouldn't have been far from a dam. Now we only ever come across them in the scrub near the house. Crested pigeons (Ocyphaps lophotes) have been nesting in trees not too far from the pond. They are very cute, also not very bright. They build their nests at head height or lower! We see quite a group of them on the powerline. They have a characteristic over-balance when they land, and rock back to upright by swinging their tales. At the moment they are very well fed and have a very high body-to-head ratio!

There is also a group of noisy miners (Manorina melanocephala) in the scrub near the pond.

This is a feisty crested pigeon (and chick) that nested outside my office in November last year. There is a similar nest at waist height in the scrub near the pond: