Grafton area, NSW

[Murray Lord]

I spent the Christmas period in Grafton in NE New South Wales. A few days of heavy rain at the start made for some good frogging. In the end I photographed 12 species, saw another two I didn't photograph, and heard another five.

Here are photos of the 12 species. All taken with a Canon 350D, a 70-200 f4L lens with extension tubes, and a 550EX flash.

If anyone thinks I have the identification of any of these wrong, please let me know. Bigger versions are available at my pbase site, www.pbase.com/mklord/ausfrogs

Litoria tyleri:


Litoria peronii:


Litoria fallax:


Litoria wilcoxi:


Litoria brevipalmata (a relatively rare species in the area):


Litoria caerulea:


Litoria latopalmata:


Litoria dentata:


Litoria gracilenta:


Mixophyes iteratus:


Limnodynastes terraereginae:


Opisthodon ornatus:


I saw but did not photograph properly Limnodynates peronii and Limnodynastes tasmaniensis. Uperoleia fusca was heard several times.

One night I headed further west to Washpool NP. Unfortunately it was a cool night and frogs were quiet, so we didn't get the hoped for species (such as L. pearsoniana, L. subglandulosa and Mixophyes balbus). We did hear Crinia signifera, Limnodynastes dumerilii and Pseudophryne bibronii, plus what I think was Assa darlingtoni.

I will add some mammal pictures to the thread later.

Murray

[Murray Lord]

Venturing off topic, mammal highlights included:

Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies:


Rufous Bettong:


A Broad-nosed Bat of some sort, perhaps Scotorepens orion:


and two very brief views of Feathertail Gliders that I couldn't photograph.

Reptile highlight was this Green Turtle taken in the harbour at Coffs Harbour from a jetty:

[Aaron]

Great photos Murray! Definately got onto some rare species on that trip, especially the brevipalmata. I like your brush-tailed rock wallaby pic, would love to see one in the wild.

I'm currently up in Darwin on the laptop by the pool - beautiful weather for frogging. Got nine species in the Darwin CBD, hopefully will see more when I head further afield!

Aaron

[~heket~]

Awsome pics! You have a lot of cool animals in your area! I want to move there now lol

[go_carlton2004]

Wow I would love to see those in the wild, Im excited just to see any frog even ones that aren't that rare because it just doesnt seem to happen much.

Well done, great pics.

[Harlz]

Wow, nice shots! And a green turtle too, sweet.

[Murray Lord]

I was back in Grafton again for Christmas this year and managed to photograph a few extra species this time around. Once again larger versions are at the link given in the original post.

Lechriodus fletcheri:


Litoria olongburensis (dark example):


Litoria olongburensis (green example):


Litoria freycineti:


Litoria nasuta:


Uperoleia fusca:


Other highlights this time included:
Birds - Mangrove Honeyeater at Yamba, Rufous Scrubbird (heard only) at Gibraltar Range
Reptiles - Rough scaled Snake
Mammals - Parma Wallaby

[UuserMeLiam]

Wow, just amazing photos of the frogs!

I wish i had that many frogs around SA to photograph, might have to take a trip up to Kaitpo Forest when it rains in the year, and see if a can get a picture of that elusive Growling Grass frog! As the Litoria Ewingii and the easiest to find!

[Murray Lord]

A few years down the track from the earlier postings, I have been back in the Grafton area recently and being my first autumn visit I was about to photograph a few more species:

Pseudophryne coriacea:


Crinia tinnula:



I also spent quite a bit of time chasing Crinia parinsignifera. Though I heard hundreds and saw three I couldn't get a decent photo.

[Murray Lord]

Not sure if anyone is still reading this, but I might as well keep going. A visit to Washpool NP and Gibraltar Range NP last week added a few more species:

The crown jewel of frogs in the area has to be Pugh's Mountain Frog, Philoria pughi:


Mixophyes balbus:


Assa darlingtoni:


Based on distribution this has to be Litoria barringtonensis, even though it looks quite different to ones I have seen near Coffs Harbour:


And for completeness here's a Crinia signifera:


Unfortunately Litoria subglandulosa continues to elude me despite going to sites where it was recorded only a few weeks ago.

So I am now up to 27 species seen (and 24 photographed) within an 80km radius of Grafon. Plus another two heard. And there are a handful of others up there that I haven't found in the area yet.

[Chris Key]

Nice pics Murray!

[Murray Lord]

Photos of one more to add, Crinia parinsignifera. They seem to have a distinctive call on the Coffs coast, and published DNA studies reinforce that they are different from the usual parinsignifera.