Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Frogs in the Garden


I found this little frog early this morning on the leaf of a Gymea Lily. Up here we are overrun with cane toads so frogs in my garden are unusual and special. I took photos and came inside and looked up the Frogs Australia site which I had read about on Esperance Fauna blog site. Then I went outside again and gently touched the little frog with a piece of grass so I could see a bit more of it. I think it is possibly an Orange Eyed Tree Frog (Litoria chloris) but would be happy to have this checked. I know very little about frogs but just wish there were more of them in the garden.

I've just had a conversation with a local frog expert and he agrees with Snail's ID that the frog is Litoria gracilenta (Graceful Tree Frog or Dainty Green Tree Frog) - not the one I had thought. Apparently Litoria gracilenta does not always have the blue color on its legs but the texture of the skin makes the ID definite.

12 comments:

  1. No idea what it is but it's a beauty. It looks right at home on that leaf too. Do you have a pond of some description?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Mosura. No Pond - in fact right now the garden is so dry its dusty.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I dunno either. It's a little cutie though.

    Could it be the dainty green tree frog Litoria gracilenta?? They usually have a bit of blue on the thighs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the suggestion Snail. I went and looked at that frog site again and they show Litoria gracilenta with more of a stripe running from its nostril. I didn't see any blue on this one but then it didn't move much while I was watching it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks again Snail - you were right and I have amended the post. I think I'd better stick to bird ID's - these other things are just too difficult!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Mick
    Lovely little frog.
    Re Frog sites, I prefer the Frogs Of Australia site - it seems to have better regions, at least as far as NSW is concerned.
    Both sites are good, and sometimes one will tell you something the other doesn't have, or have a call file embedded that is not on the other one.
    Here is the link for
    Frogs of Around Brisbane
    Love the first photo of it snuggled inside the curled leaf.
    Cheers
    Denis

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Dennis, thanks for the information re that other site for frogs. I've just been and looked there and think its great. The variety of photos is excellent too. I've bookmarked the site and will certainly look at both next time.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oops! Sorry Denis,so anxious to answer your comment that I didn't even spell your name correctly.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very good your blog, with marvellously posts beautiful photographs and comments with enough information!
    Congratulation!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks Kostas, good to have you visit.

    ReplyDelete