Five Year Anniversary

Incredibly enough this month is the 5 year anniversary of this blog. During that time I've learnt a lot and enjoyed sharing my experiences with all of you. Thank you for all of the comments, interest and support over the years. It has been a pleasure :)

Grey Heron (Bloureier - Ardea cinerea) camera trapped at Koeberg Nature reserve

I've been fairly busy with all sorts of things recently and haven't gotten around to writing as many blog posts as I would have liked. A lot of my time (more accurately energy) is currently going into the next version of WildLog. One of the big improvements will be revamping the reports, which I'm very excited about.

Last month marked the completion of a full year of camera trapping at Koeberg Nature Reserve and I'm thinking of wrapping things up over there for the time being. Once I get all my ducks in a row (or at least most of them moving in the same direction) I'll do a Koeberg summary post using some of the new charts form WildLog :)

I enjoyed camera trapping at Koeberg and will definitely return to camera trap some more in the years to come. For next year the plan is to try some shorter stints at a few new locations that interest me, but I haven't made up my mind yet...

Purple Heron (Rooireier - Ardea purpurea) camera trapped at Koeberg Nature Reserve

To celebrate this historic 5 year anniversary I thought it fitting to share my first amphibian species photographed with a camera trap. Well, technically it isn't my first amphibian, but it is the first one that triggered the camera by itself and wasn't just sitting in the background when some other species triggered the camera trap. I'm quite pleased that it is also a video clip, not just a photo (although the resolution on the photos are much better).

Video: Sand Rain Frog (Rose se Reënpadda - Breviceps rosei) triggering the camera trap at Koeberg

While I was at the reserve today I came across this gorgeous little Cape Sand Frog. I found it buried inside an old mole-heap. There is no permanent water nearby, but it was snuggled comfortably in between the leaves of some succulents. The succulent's leaves got covered by sand when a molerat pushed the sand up from one of its tunnels. Thus even though the surrounding sand was fairly dry the micro habitat the frog selected for itself was fairly moist thanks to the succulent plant's leaves.

Cape Sand Frog (Gestreepte Sandpadda - Tomopterna delalandii) found at Koeberg, look at those amazing eyes

This little frog was very placid. I'm guessing that it was in some state of reduced metabolism to conserve moisture and energy. With the dry summer months still ahead of us, I decided to tuck it back into the sand where I found it, next to the moist succulent leaves.

I think this is a fairly attractive little frog, with huge eyes and a cute round nose

A while back I also came across this little Clicking Stream Frog while scouting for good places to camera trap some Shrews.



Though small the Clicking Stream Frog (Kliklangtoonpadda - Strongylopus grayii) has a much faster look and lifestyle than the sand frog