at Kroombit Tops NP with the Rangers
#9
TaLKING TO FROGS
Always keen on a new adventure, I don’t know what to expect with this new challenge: going for a frog survey… French people are famous for being Frog Eaters so I find it pretty funny that we are invited to join this kind of activity J
Kroombit TOPS National Park
On another beautiful day in the Sunshine State, we hop on the ranger’s hut direction Kroombit Tops NP, what a weird name! Again, we’ve never heard about this park so we are excited to see how it looks like!
Once again we are not disappointed, we leave the main road and go up the mountain on a dirt road, the scenery is simply spectacular, valley, sandstone cliffs and open woodlands. We keep driving and driving until reaching the barracks.
There we meet all the team and get to know the volunteers as well, who join the frog survey.
WHAT A FROG SURVEY FOR ?
We listen to the brief with attention and we realise quickly that it is going to be serious and not an easy part!
Every year around fifteen rangers and volunteers meet up at Kroombit Tops National Park for one week to explore the rainforest. But not only to walk in the forest, no actually they look for the “Tinker Frog” an endangered species which leaves only in that national park, interesting.
They need to listen to them, control their presence and take a census of the population.
The night can be long searching for frogs and the tracks to go onto are not the easiest, rocks, cliffs, dense rainforest… better be prepared.
everyone is passionate and motivated to go on another night out in the forest!
Before we could realise, the sun sets and we take off for the forest!!
frog expedition !
Equipped with a frontal, we go with Harry, the ranger in charge of the operation.
The night arrives slowly and quickly we find ourselves in the middle of the rainforest. Not the typical place to be at night, right? The insects are calling, flying and wondering around…Not what I prefer I must say!
We follow Harry and realise that he is able to actually talk to the frogs! Very sure, he says the name of the frog, how they look like etc. Such an encyclopaedia, I’m very impressed how he could recognise and imitate all these frog species. We haven’t seen the Tinker Frogs but we get up close with many species and learn a lot about each J. Good fun after all !
I felt adventurous to have explored the rainforest at night, listened to all the odd sounds and animal calls, looking for frogs!
A night I won’t forget!!
Posted on December, 24th 2013
