Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

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Nick Evans
Posts: 71
Joined: February 6th, 2014, 9:21 am

Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Post by Nick Evans »

Hi all,

I finally got to explore outside of my home province (KwaZulu-Natal) last week, when I went to a town called Wakkerstroom. The purpose of the trip was to co-lead a public frogging event, with BirdLife South Africa (http://www.wakkerstroom.co.za/birdlife-south-africa/) and my friends from The LionHeart Experience (http://www.thelionheart.co.za/).

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The event was a huge success! On top of that, we ended up turning it into a sort of 'bio-bash' weekend. During the day, before an evening of frogging, we were out birding and flipping rocks, in the hope of finding some snakes- and we certainly did.

This gave us hope. 'Slang', is the Afrikaans word for snake.

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Here are some photos of some our reptile and amphibian finds. I've saved the best for last!

FROGS:

Rattling Frog (Semnodactylus wealii)
This was the species I had most hoped to see! They're really special frogs, which aren't all that widespread. Adorable little creatures!

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Then, an unexpected find...
Rhythmic Caco (Cacosternum rhythmum)
This recently described species has been known to only occur in the KZN Midlands, about 270km away, give or take. This makes for a huge range extension, and they were abundant throughout the area. It was an exciting discovery!

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Karoo Toad (Vandijkophrynus gariepensis)
A new one for me.

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Bubbling Kassina (Kassina senegalensis).
Similair to the Rattling Frog in appearance, but lacks the bright orange undersides.

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Rain Frog (Breviceps spp). An interesting find, which we have yet to identify.

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Poynton's River Frog (Amietia poyntoni)
Another new one for me...

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Juvenile Clicking Stream Frog (Strongylopus grayii)

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Raucous Toad (Scleophrys rangeri)

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We only found two lizard species, the prettiest being the Common Crag Lizard (Psuedocordylus melanotus)

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SNAKES

Rhombic/Spotted Skaapsteker (Psammophylax rhombeatus)
We found a good few of these.

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Cross-marked Whip Snake (Psammophis crucifer)

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Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia). One of the prettiest individuals I've seen.

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Brown Water Snake (Lycodonomorphus rufulus)

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And then this, the highlight...

Yesterday morning, our group at the Wakkerstroom Frogging event were all left gobsmacked, when some youngsters in our group flipped a rock and found this: Spotted Harlequin Snake(Homoroselaps lacteus)!!!!!
What an outstandingly beautiful creature! We could not believe our luck! Thrilled, delighted, ecstatic, mind-blown (especially at the fact that these kids immediately identified it)- some of the words to describe how we were feeling :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :thumb:

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Myself with the Harlequin finders. These kids were machines, they found frog after frog, snake after snake. It was incredible!

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It was one of my most memorable trips yet! Apart from all the amazing reptiles and frogs, we were treated to sightings of Meerkats, an Otter, beautiful wild flowers, and a whole stack of wonderful birds!

Thanks for looking!

~Nick Evans
https://www.facebook.com/KZNHerpConservation/
http://www.kznamphibianreptileconservation.com
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Joined: June 29th, 2011, 1:56 am
Location: Belgium
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Re: Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

Thanks! I dare anyone to look at that (or any) breviceps picture and not fall in love.
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mtratcliffe
Posts: 533
Joined: January 19th, 2014, 4:34 pm
Location: Mt Laurel, NJ

Re: Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Post by mtratcliffe »

Those are some exceptionally beautiful snakes and frogs you found. Glad to see youngsters getting involved!

Thanks for sharing.
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Nick Evans
Posts: 71
Joined: February 6th, 2014, 9:21 am

Re: Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Post by Nick Evans »

Thanks guys! :beer:

Yeah @mtratcliffe, they're the future of conservation! They were so passionate.

Jeroen, indeed, definitely one of the cutest little critters around :)
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