Trip to the Wet Tropics: Frogging Around Ravenshoe & Palmerston

During Day 2 of our five day/four night trip, we hit the road and travelled up through the Palmerston Highway, through to Millaa Millaa and onto Ravenshoe, the highest town in Queensland. Once we arrived, we set foot exploring the area in search of habitat of the impressively decorated Mignificent Broodfrog (Pseudophryne covacevichae). We came to a trickling gully, and with a sense of promise, we would return that evening. On our way back to town, we stopped by Little Millstream Falls for lunch. The size of the rock formations and amount of water flowing over the falls was quite impressive; as are many of the great waterfalls of FNQ.

Little Millstream Falls, FNQ
Little Millstream Falls, FNQ

On our way back to the Magnificent Broodfrog site that evening, we came across several other species.

Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk (Limnodynastes terreareginae)
Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk (Limnodynastes terreareginae)
Montane Toadlet (Uperoleia altissima)
Montane Toadlet (Uperoleia altissima)
Broad-palmed Rocketfrog (Litoria latopalmata)
Broad-palmed Rocketfrog (Litoria latopalmata)

On approach to the trickling gully, we heard the call of the frog we came to find.

Magnificent Broodfrog (Pseudophryne covacevichae)
Magnificent Broodfrog (Pseudophryne covacevichae)
Magnificent Broodfrog (Pseudophryne covacevichae) dorsal shot.
Magnificent Broodfrog (Pseudophryne covacevichae) dorsal view.

As broodfrogs, this Genus is a pretty cool species. They lay a clutch of eggs in damp soil and the male will guard the eggs. The eggs are then washed into nearby water during rainfall where the tadpoles develop. This broodfrog is one of the more brightly coloured in the Genus.

After leaving this site, we drove around Ravenshoe and found a few more frogs in unnatural habitats.

Green Treefrog (Litoria caerulea). Ok so this isn't exactly a unique spot for a Green Treefrog.
Green Treefrog (Litoria caerulea). Ok so a gate isn’t exactly a unique spot for a Green Treefrog.

Leaving Ravenshoe, we travelled back down the Palmerston Highway where we pulled over and poked around several streams and waterfalls. Waterfall Frogs were at every waterfall we came across, as were a few other species along the way.

Waterfall Frog (Litoria nannotis)
Waterfall Frog (Litoria nannotis)
Green-eyed Treefrog (Litoria serrata)
Green-eyed Treefrog (Litoria serrata)

We also found this female Common Mistfrog. Despite it’s name, it is classified as endangered.

Common Mistfrog (Litoria rheocola), female.
Common Mistfrog (Litoria rheocola), female.

Tonight’s list of new species seen wasn’t as long as the night before, but the frogs were impressive none the less!

Stay tuned for Nights 3 and 4!

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