Pobblebonk

Robert Ashdown — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:26:49 +0000

Midnight on a foggy, humid Toowoomba night. I venture into the backyard — un-mown grass and rampant green, a very different sight to the yellow, dry block that we took on when we moved here ten-odd years ago. We’ve done little to it, it has just rained a lot lately and everything has grown.

Lurking in the yard at midnight — a Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk. All photos R. Ashdown.

February 2012′s rainy weeks have been sublime weather for all sorts of critters, including frogs. There in front of me at midnight, frozen by the light, was a new species for our yard, a Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk — one of my favourite frogs. What a fabulous thing to find lurking in the yard late at night!

The Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk (Limnodynastes terraereginae) is a member of a group of well-built, ground-dwelling and/or burrowing Australian frogs. Scarlet-sided Pobblebonks are also known as Northern Banjo Frogs, in both cases the name comes from the call of the males — when lots are going off they make a sound like a banjo being plucked, or a bubbling series of slightly different "bonk" noises.

Pobblebonks are burrowing frogs, and are only seen on the surface after lots of rain. Sometimes people find them in the garden after rain and mistake them for the introduced Cane Toad. We have lots of brown native frogs though, and this one is more colourful than a Cane Toad when you get up close.

The scarlet sides of the Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk. A regal king of the marshes indeed.

About to head off. Scarlet-sided Pobblebonks are found on the western slopes and ranges of northern New South Wales, through eastern Queensland and up to Cape York Peninsula. And in my dodgy back-yard. Outstanding!

Stormy sunsets

Robert Ashdown — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:11:27 +0000

Storms, rain, wild weather all around. Many fine photographic opportunities abound. These were taken looking east over the Toowoomba escarpment with a Canon Powershot S100, after quickly pulling over while driving down the range. Glad I had the camera with me. The second and fourth shots were taken looking to the west.

More rain, more fungus, new birds

Robert Ashdown — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:37:58 +0000

Fungi, Queen's Park, Toowoomba

Why was this fungus interesting? Well, apart from the fact that I just like fungi, it was at the base of an exotic pine tree in Queen’s Park, in the top branches of which three Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, a new Toowoomba bird species for me, were prising apart pine cones. My little camera had no hope of catching a decent cockatoo image, so this fungus is here instead!

Graceful Treefrogs

Robert Ashdown — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:09:49 +0000

For the second time since I’ve moved to Toowoomba about a decade ago, we’ve heard the quiet wail of a Graceful Treefrog (Litoria gracilenta) in the back-yard. The sound brought back a few memories.

Graceful Tree Frog (Litoria gracilenta), Lota, Brisbane. One of several species of 'green' frogs that can be found in Brisbane, the Graceful Treefrog is about 45mm long. The species lives in a range of habitats, from gardens to farmland, but is not found in rainforest or wallum heath. Photo R. Ashdown.

I used to look forward to the calls of these frogs during summer when I lived in Brisbane. As the air grew humid and the sound of distant thunder rolled across a still suburb, the rising wail of a Graceful Tree Frog would be heard coming from high up in the dark-green canopy of the old mango tree that took up most of my small backyard and which had the swing attached that my one-year old son was so fond of. I would imagine the frogs flat against the swinging mango leaves for the cold months, almost sealed to the leaf, everything tucked in to reduce moisture loss, probably dreaming frog dreams of the coming rains.

A male Graceful Treefrog calling. The call has been described as a long drawn-out moaning "aaaare". Males call from the water's edge and from overhanging vegetation. Photo R. Ashdown.

If the rain persisted, after several days a huge chorus of wailing frogs would drift up from a creek a hundred metres down the road. It was the largest chorus I’d heard of frogs in my suburb, and after the rain ceased the calls would go all night, an eerie but somehow calming background soundtrack to a summer night. I’d sneak down there at night with a torch and a camera, to the vacant block between houses, and see stacks of these stunning emerald amphibians lining the edges of the creek calling. They’d probably been doing this there for many decades or probably centuries.

Graceful Tree Frogs in 'amplexus'. The male grasps the female and fertilises the eggs she lays. The frogs lay a single layer mass or small clump of eggs just below the surface of water, and sometimes the eggs are attached to floating vegetation. They will lay eggs in temporarily flooded areas, and even in buckets or swimming pools. Photo taken at Boondall wetlands, Brisbane, by Mike Peisley.

Sadly, I was there when this summer gathering ceased for good, as the block was developed for houses, the old paper-barks trashed and the creek lined with pipes and concrete. The red-bellied black snakes and the frogs all moved out or were killed. Progress always has its quiet, usually-unnoticed down-sides in a city like Brisbane, where the landscape is gradually changed and the many small creatures vanish as their habitat suffers the death of a thousand cuts. It was a sadder summer season there without the nightly chorus of these graceful frogs.

Brisbane is lucky enough to have forty-three recorded species of frogs, although two are now extinct. Many species are common and widespread, but some are disappearing. As bushland and temporary wetlands vanish, some species are becoming harder to see. Photo R. Ashdown.

Eastern Water Dragon

Robert Ashdown — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:25:46 +0000

Eastern Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), Kedron Brook, Brisbane, Boxing Day 2011.

Mudwasps

Robert Ashdown — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:47:29 +0000

A collection of spiders stored inside the cells of an opened mud wasp nest. Porcupine Ridge, Victoria. Photo R. Mancini.

There are many species of Australian mud wasp, which belong to the Families Specidae and Vespidae. While varying in colour and size, they are often black with yellow or orange bands. Mud wasps are solitary insects, feeding on nectar and drinking water.

Mud wasp drinking nectar, on grass tree flower spike. Barakula State Forest. Photo R. Ashdown.

Mud wasps can be seen near the edges of puddles or streams drinking or gathering mud for their nests.

Mud wasp collecting mud. Waaje State Forest. Photo R. Ashdown.

A large and colourful Potter Wasp (Abispa ephippium) collects mud from my eroded driveway. Potter Wasps live in open habitats and gardens, and are found across much of mainland Australia.

Nests are constructed by single female wasps. Some species build their nests in cavities such as in trees or old machinery (even taps), while others attached their mud nests to tree trucks, rocks, or in Rob’s case, buildings.

A Potter Wasp at work on Rob and Catherine's beautiful stone house, Toowoomba. The nest of the Potter Wasp contains many cells filled with caterpillars as food for larvae. A temporary entrance funnel (seen here) is built while the cells are being filled. Female wasps search for prey around trees and shrubs, using their jaws to cut into the shelters of leaf-tying caterpillars. Photo R. Ashdown

The female catches a spider or insect (depending on species of wasp), then stings and paralyses it. The hapless insect is carried back to the nest, whe an egg is laid on it and the nest sealed. When the wasp grub hatches it consumes the food provided and pupates in the cell. The emerging adult wasp then chews its way out of the cell.

On the prowl for spiders. Toowoomba. This is actually not a mud nest builder, it's an Australian Spider Wasp. They catch large Huntsman Spiders and drag them back to their burrows in the ground. Toowoomba. Photo R. Ashdown.

Wasp with Huntsman Spider prey, moving quickly back to the burrow with paralysed spider. Photo R. Ashdown.

A battered, and huge, Australian Spider Wasp searches energetically for ... well, spiders I guess ... among a scree slope on Mount TableTop, Toowoomba. Photo R. Ashdown

Mud wasps are native animals. They are not pests and rarely sting, as they are not usually aggressive to humans.

The Queensland Museum: Mud dauber and Potter wasps.

Dragonfly hunting

Robert Ashdown — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:02:06 +0000

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Resource Ranger Rod Hobson was keen to find a Royal Tigertail (Parasynthemis regina) at McEwans Conservation Park near Pittsworth on the Darling Downs. This uncommon dragonfly species was spotted there in a recent survey. We searched, but didn’t find it – this time anyway. Here are some photos of other things we found (identifications not confirmed).

Chequered Swallowtail (Papilio demoleus). Photo R. Ashdown.

Rod Hobson, McEwan Conservation Park. Photo R. Ashdown.

Picris evae, a rare native daisy of the Darling Downs. Photo R. Ashdown.

Female Aurora Bluetail (Ischnura aurora). Creek in local area. Photo R. Ashdown.

Chequered Swallowtails (Papilio demoleus). Photo R. Ashdown.

Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus). In dry vine-scrub. Photo R. Ashdown.

Fiery Skimmer (Orthetrum villosovittatum). Photo R. Ashdown.

'Blue' Butterfly (species unknown). Photo R. Ashdown.

Blue Skimmer (Orthetrum caledonicum). Photo R. Ashdown.

Male Aurora Bluetail (Ischnura aurora). Photo R. Ashdown.

More great Boondall images

Robert Ashdown — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:02:48 +0000

Some new images by Mike Peisley, all taken in the Boondall wetlands. Mike’s patience in getting to know this area and the behaviour of its wildlife continues to pay off with some really wonderful images.

Sacred Kingfisher harassed by nesting Willy Wagtail. Photo copyright Mike Peisley.

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All images copyright Mike Peisley.

Summer invertebrates on the move

Robert Ashdown — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:39:25 +0000

Summer heat after some rain in Toowoomba and the air has been full of tiny insects on the move.

Small insects on the move in the hot summer air. Photo R. Ashdown.

Swallows dart and weave, snapping up a protein feast. Photo R. Ashdown.

Tiny spiderlings 'baloon' about. They drift pass on small strands of web, and land all around us on the grass. Photo R. Ashdown

Tiny spider-webs covering flowers in the Toowoomba Botanical Gardens. Photo R. Ashdown

Winged Sugar Ants mill about our large colony under old sleepers in the driveway. Conditions are right for the colony to produce winged ants (known as alates). These are reproductive males and females, which swarm and mate. The males die within a few days but the females (future queens) fly off to find a new nesting site, shed their wings and establish a new colony. Photo R. Ashdown

Unlike most of the colony's ants, alates are black. Large worker ants stand guard around the mating alates. Photo R. Ashdown.

Boobooks at Christmas

Robert Ashdown — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:22:10 +0000

The Christmas Lights spectacular turns the normally quiet-by-night Toowoomba Botanical Gardens into a riot of colour and sound, the kind of place any nocturnal animal would avoid like the plague. So, I was happy to hear, and then spot, a calling Southern Boobook Owl, sitting in a hollow in a Plane Tree less than 50 metres from all the Yuletide commotion.

Trees adjacent to the riot and colour of the Toowoomba Christmas lights spectacular are home to some interesting wildlife, despite being non-natives. Photo R. Ashdown.

Southern Boobook Owl (Ninox novaeseelandiae). This one was photographed sleeping in a Casuarina in Brisbane. This is the smallest and most common owl in Australia. By day they hide in tree hollows or thick foliage. Their two-syllable call of mo-poke or more-poke is often mistakenly thought to be the call of the Tawny Frogmouth. Boobooks breed from September to February each year, raising from one to three young in a hollow. Young birds stay in the nest until they are five to six weeks old. Photo R. Ashdown

I returned several times with camera gear, but was unable to get a photo of the owls. I did spot three birds quietly flying about, so perhaps they have raised one or two young in the park. The “mopoke” call of these birds is heard throughout East Toowoomba every summer, and since Christmas they have been calling in trees several blocks away from the Gardens. A most evocative night-time sound.