Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

For your reports/images, made outside Europe and the "Mediterranean" countries. Not to be too narrow minded and limited to our European/Mediterranean herps.

Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Postby Nick Evans » Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:57 pm

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
Nick Evans
 
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Re: Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Postby Matthieu Berroneau » Mon Jan 16, 2017 6:17 pm

Always a pleasure to see your pictures !
Matt
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Re: Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:41 pm

That's a pretty snake, indeed, but every Breviceps featuring post makes me a happy camper! Thanks again!
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Re: Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Postby Bobby Bok » Wed Jan 18, 2017 6:26 pm

What a dreamfind. Good job on taking these youngsters out herping also!
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Re: Finds from Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga), South Africa

Postby Nick Evans » Sun Jan 22, 2017 2:08 pm

Thanks a lot for the comments :mrgreen:
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