A rambling frog post from Taiwan

[numpty]

Hi all. I intended to post the bulk of these photos a couple of months ago, but stuff got in the way that I had to deal with. (In other words, many of these photos are at least a couple of months old, for those who care about such things, which presumably means no-one.)

Anyway, one of my earlier posts detailed my excitement at finding the red-legged, endemic Rhacophorus moltrechti some 30km south of Taipei (about 40km south of where I live), having only previously found it much further south on the island. Well, imagine my surprise as I was walking a scant 4km north of my home and heard its familiar croak amongst distant trees. (That's 4km as the crow flies. As I'm not a crow I have to take the road; so, more like a winding 10km, with a bit of bushwhacking at the end. Still a lot less than 40km though.)

However I'm not quite sure about this population. It seemed a bit artificial to my suspicious eye, like some conservation types had introduced individuals there or something. It didn't really look like ideal habitat, and all the breeding ponds were buckets, tubs or artificial pools. Well, whatever, I'll take what I can get. Makes it difficult to get "natural"-looking photos of course.

Rhacophorus moltrechti


The calling males are usually difficult to see, as they dig into crevices or other hidden spots for their serenades. I only found this guy as his crevice was at my eye level in a tree.

Rhacophorus moltrechti


Also in the general area, and calling loudly on this rainy night, another of my favourites, Hyla chinensis - Taiwan's sole Hylid. Look at those cute little faces! Adorable, no?

Hyla chinensis




A few days later on another rainy night, I was back in another of my favourite haunts near Xindian, just south of Taipei. I'd just arrived when I came across a big East Asian bullfrog, Hoplobatrachus rugulosus, sitting right in front of me. I hadn't had much luck in either seeing or photographing these in the past, so I excitedly fumbled my camera out just in time for it to vanish. That made me pout, but I was able to snap another individual a few minutes later. It's not a picture I like to look at too much though; in addition to the generally shabby photography, I'm sure you can see why I might not find it the most aesthetically pleasing picture.

Hoplobatrachus rugulosus


And here are some others snapped at around the same time at around the same place.

Fejervarya limnocharis


Some species of gecko or other ... suggestions welcome


The barking Hylarana guentheri, enjoying the sumptuous feel of plastic binliner


The whistling, endemic Kurixalus idiootocus


I was back at the same spot a couple of months later, during the first heavy rains after an extended drought. The edible bullfrogs were obviously in a good mood and feeling charitable towards me. Much prettier pictures this time.

Hoplobatrachus rugulosus, relaxing beside a piece of rubbish


Hoplobatrachus rugulosus, looking alert and jumpy


Hoplobatrachus rugulosus, the frog with kaleidoscope eyes!


A toad I hadn't seen much of recently was tongue-twisting Duttaphrynus melanostictus, also known by a bunch of more user-friendly names like the spectacled toad, common Asian toad, spiny toad, etc. Common across Asia, and I used to see them a lot on my night walks, though recently I'd mainly been seeing the endemic Bufo bankorensis. The ornamental pond in the park at the end of my street used to be full of them in the breeding season, but I don't see them there now.

Duttaphrynus melanostictus


Also, the endemic and "near threatened" emerald tree frog, Rhacophorus prasinatus. I was interested to see how the population here was doing as I think it had a rough time this year, what with the extended drought and the farmers using the rain-and-tadpole-filled buckets to water their plants. Or maybe I'm doing the farmers a disservice. If so, they have my apologies. Anyway, I saw five, which is about the usual.

Rhacophorus prasinatus



The thumb-sized (for people with small to medium-sized thumbs) Microhyla fissipes


And a dead greater green snake, Cyclophiops major, by the side of the path. It must have just died, by means that I couldn't determine. These are sometimes mistakenly killed by people thinking they're green tree vipers; I've seen a couple before by the sides of roads with their heads smashed in. Nothing here indicated violence, however.

Cyclophiops major


That's it. Thanks for looking!

[Sunshine]

Those are some nice looking frogs and toads, thanks for sharing! I like the Hyla Chinensis Too cute!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Nice photos man! I really like the Rhacophorus moltrechti though!

[numpty]

Thanks!

Here are a few more pics of Rhacophorus moltrechti from several months ago, taken when I only knew it from further south.







And while I'm posting photos I should have uploaded months ago, here's a toad in a hole, with parotoid glands so big they look like another set of eyes, or another toad on its back.

Bufo bankorensis