Wildlife Seen in My Garden

The wildlife has been really been busy around our yard over the last two days. Well, it is still the Nyoongar season of Kambarang - the season of birth - although we'll soon be into Birak - Summer in the European calendar.

1. There's a very amorous froggie in the frog pond. He's a motorbike frog  - Litoria moorei - and has a been calling most of the day and night in hopes of attracting a mate. You can see and hear what he sounds like here http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/frogwatch/frogs/motorbike-frog

2. There are frogs everywhere at the moment. I went outside the other evening and when I came back there was an adolescent frog settled high up on the glass door into the family room. When I say settled I mean it. Convincing it to move so I could open the door was not easy.

3. And in yet another froggie tale my cat has been waking me at night banging on my bedroom window for several nights. Last night he started doing it before I went to bed and when I shone a light onto the window ledge there was a large frog completely ignoring the knocking much to Mr Puss's frustration.

4. It's not only frogs appearing in the garden. Yesterday I went out early to check my seedlings not paying much attention to anything except the task in hand. I looked up as I reached the clothesline which is just above head height and came face to face with a kookaburra which was focussed on the frog pond in front of it. I don't know who was most startled but it had no intention of moving until I spun the line around. Kookaburras are widespread here but they are actually feral having been introduced from the east coast over a century ago.

5. We know summer is close once the bobtails (their proper name is Tiliqua rugosa and they are also sometimes called stumpy tailed lizards) appear and when Pisces went out yesterday afternoon one was sunning itself on the driveway near the front door. We've had several living in our garden for as long as we've lived here. They mate for life and are live bearers. Since they can live as long as fifty years they are likely to be the same one who moved in when we did.

6. Flocks of several species of honeyeaters and wattlebirds are taking advantage of the birdbath outside my study windows. They are quite a distraction as is the resident willy wagtail and all are remarkably unfazed by my presence when I'm working in the garden.

 

Froggies!

About a week ago I went out to clear the over-growth of algae out of one of our backyard ponds. It had been neglected this winter and guilt was tugging at me. The plan was to clear out the mess, replace the waterlilies that had sadly died and maybe invest in some fish. I knew several frogs frequented this pond but I hadn't seen or heard a peep from them for some months. You usually know when they're about because of their distinctive call -they're not known as motorbike frogs for no reason. I'd come across a few hiding in the base of self watering flower pots and several had set up home in a pile of empty pots near one of the garden taps - they ranged in size from not much bigger than my thumb to full grown adults - so I knew we still had some residents but I hadn't seen any others even in their favourite sunbathing spots near the pond.

So I pulled up the first clump of algae and started checking for frog spawn since we're heading into the frog breeding season - and the whole base was speckled with tiny tadpoles, some still in the egg. I checked another couple of clumps and they were the same. There must have been several hundred altogether. Of course I abandoned the pond clean up and left them to their own devices. They've now all emerged and are feeding on the algae, because unlike the adults the tadpoles are technically herbivores. I say technically because while they're still very tiny there are so many that I wouldn't be surprised if some at least turn cannibal, something that happens when a pool is over crowded but that's up to nature to sort out and, although the pond has a netting cover to make it child safe and keep out predators, I know from experience that the majority won't reach adulthood. Sad but probably just as well or we'd be overrun with frogs.

Motorbike frogs are also known as Western bell frogs, Western green and golden bell frogs and Western Green Tree frogs (the last is something of misnomer because, although they are adept climbers, they are really terrestrial).

Froggies

I've posted before about our resident froggies. We love having them around and encourage them as much as possible. The vast majority are motorbike frogs (Litoria moorei). They range in colour from vivid green and gold to dark brown and are classed as a tree frog although they spend most of their time on the ground. The common name of motorbike frog comes from the males' mating call which sounds something like a motorbike changing gear. You can hear it here.

Bear in mind that what we hear is that sound being repeated by numerous frogs and you'll have some idea of the cacophony surrounding us every night. We don't mind them calling for the most part but at the moment they're having a bit of breeding frenzy which means it can get somewhat deafening out there in the evening in the garden - and some of them are nowhere near the pond. Just imagine if you will several dozen males scattered all over the garden and all calling at once. Several are in the pond but others are calling in the veggie garden,  among the pot plants, in the flower beds and there's even one outside my window in the front yard. That's an awful lot of  'Hello, ladies.' going on and today there's even one calling in the midday heat. I went to have a look and he was sitting half submerged in the pond on a pad of algae. Somehow I doubt he'll get too many takers as he spruiks the delights of his pond, the females being sensibly tucked up in their daytime hidey holes

It's not only the horny males who are out and about, though. A couple of nights ago I went outside and nearly hit the veranda roof as a startled youngster took off and sent a pile of bamboo stakes flying. Then last night I almost stepped on another juvenile which was outside on the doorstep engaging in a staring contest with Mr Puss who was inside. As it had no intention of moving - and Puss was poised to overcome his fear of the outside world and pounce as soon as I opened the door - I had to go around via the back door so I could pick it up on a trowel. Of course, it waited until it and the trowel were up at my waist height before it remembered it could jump and did.