Thursday, September 11, 2008

Froggy goes a-courting


Surprise! It's raining hard here in Cape Tribulation. Even though its supposed to be the Dry Season, Cooper Creek is passable only to 4WD. The people aren't loving it as much as you'd think, but the froggies, they are having a big party! The croaking is so loud that Sarah could hear them in Hamilton, New Zealand (while we were trying to have a phonecall over the rain pounding on the iron roof, the frogs croaking and the insects singing).

On my way to turn off the generator before bed, I heard a particularly piercing croak from nearby, and soon found this tiny fellow making a noise much bigger than you'd expect from something not much larger than my thumb. I think he found corner between the glass of the tabletop and the jar of flowers an excellent amplifier.

See how his body puffs up all big between croaks and then all the air goes into his neck sac and his body gets tiny again! Sort of like the effect I can achieve with my belly with/without chocolate over the timespan of a few months. And he can do it with his breath every few seconds. Amazing!


(This is the first time I've used the flash on my camera. Shooting in the dark I couldn't see him at all to focus, so I'm quite thrilled with my accidental inclusion of his reflection above.)

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