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Recreating the Country blog

Who's been doing their washing in our dam

6/9/2016

1 Comment

 

For the past week I've been enjoying an evening serenade like no other. The sound is like a banjo being played under water. A dull 'bonk' sound repeated every few seconds by quite a few performers, each repeating the same unique note.

Because they want to stand out from the crowd, each performer has a slightly different note. If you didn't know the musicians were male Pobblebonk/Banjo Frogs, you'd think it was a crazy banjo player with no sense of rhythm. Surprisingly, the overall sound is sensational.

The male Pobblebonk frogs are spruiking their personal virtues to the ladies in the pond.  And their stamina is to be envied because they can keep the chorus going all night. The end result of all night recital is the mysterious washing suds like blobs floating on the water. 

​Next year the serenade is likely to have a thousand voices and I'll be struggling to find an adjective to do it justice.
Picture
The spawn of the Pobblebonk frog, Limnodynastes dumerili. Spring is here
Picture
Pobblebonk frog, Limnodynastes dumerili Image from Museum Victoria's website.
For a complete guide to frogs of Victoria this is a great website - frogs.org.au/frogs/of/Victoria/​
1 Comment
Gib Wettenhall
17/10/2016 11:42:13 am

I love the sound (and name) of pobblebonks

Reply



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    Stephen Murphy is an author and ecologist. He has worked as a nurseryman and designer of natural landscapes for over 30 years. He loves the bush, actively supporting Landcare and conservation initiatives throughout Australia
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  • Home
  • be Challenged
    • Design to restore lost biodiversity >
      • Diversity >
        • Making a list of plants for revegetation
      • Structure >
        • Ecology Snapshot - wildlife and their habitat
      • Species survival
      • Location - connections
      • Blueprint for Recreating the Counrty
    • Biodiversity and profit >
      • Designing for profit
    • Managing sustainable biorich landscapes
  • be Informed
    • Indigenous flora of the Geelong district >
      • Indigenous plants - what & why
      • Acacias, wattles of the Geelong Region
      • Acacias - the cafes of the bush
      • Allocasuarinas/drooping sheoaks, Black Sheoak & Callitris glaucophylla/cypress-pine
      • Bursaria spinosa, Sweet Bursaria
      • Eucalypts, The Sentinals
      • Exocarpos cupressiformis, Cherry Ballart
      • Moonah, Melaleuca lanceolata
      • Small riparian myrtles
      • Wedge-leaf/Giant Hop-bush, Dodonaea viscosa
      • Wild Plants of Inverleigh
      • Tree Violet - as tenacious as a terrier
    • Nurseryman's diary >
      • Regent Honeyeater - a good news story
      • Give me a home among the gum trees
      • Symbiotic fungi
      • The joys of seed collecting
      • Landcare, who cares?
      • The last Silver Banksia
      • Neds Corner
      • River Red Gums and the Tuscan monks
  • be Entertained
    • Stories for children >
      • Amie and the intoxicated kangaroos
      • The Little Green Caterpillar
      • B'emus'ed - a Christmas tale of bursairas and emus
    • Stories about the natural world >
      • Brushtail
      • Cormorant
      • Eastern Bettongs. 'Truffle junkies' or 'ecosystem engineers'
      • Richards Sweet Rewards
      • Coxy's Curse
      • How the River Red Gum came to be - A dreamtime story
  • Bookshop
  • Blog
    • Easy blog finder
  • Contact