Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

The Dry season isn’t the best for frogs but this Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog, Litoria fallax, seemed comfortable enough amongst the shady leaves of a tree on the edge of the Town Common. He was spotted by my companions on another of Wildlife Queensland’s monthly  field trips, one which introduced me to the boardwalk behind the Sustainability House in Rowes Bay. In the Wet, of course, the boardwalk passes over very swampy ground – ideal frog territory – but now it has all dried out.

According to frogs.org.au (the best online froggy information source I know of) the species grows to “less than 30mm” long; 25 – 30mm is common and about right for this one. Colours are somewhat variable but the whitish streak from eye to shoulder (very obvious in my photo) and the dark streak from eye to nose (less obvious) are normally present. Wikipedia confirms all this and adds that the species is very common along our Eastern coast from about Cairns to central NSW.

Frogs don’t often appear on Green Path, simply because so many of my subjects are drawn from my own suburban garden and we don’t have any permanent water. Making a frog pond is one of those nice ideas which has never quite become reality although there are plenty of sites online which give instructions, advice and encouragement – visit SGA, FNPW or BBY if you want to do it yourself.