Pobblebonk Photography

POBBLEBONK PHOTOGRAPHY

By Jennifer Miller

Limnodynastes dumerili Pobblebonk Frog

(Also known as Eastern Banjo Frog)

Pobblebonks inhabit the coastal park where I live on the Bellarine Peninsula.

The Pobblebonk is sometimes known as the Banjo Frog due to its banjo-like 'plonk' or ‘bonk' sound. It’s this sound that inspired the name Pobblebonk Photography.

The Pobblebonk is a burrowing frog. Its powerful hind legs can dig backward into the ground, where it can remain until it rains. Females use their legs to beat their egg clutches into a frothy mass that floats on the water's surface.

Pobblebonks can grow up to 8.5 cm in length. They vary from grey and olive-brown to dark brown with blackish patches and marbling, with a distinctive white cheek stripe. Skin texture can vary from smooth to warty. The fingers and toes of the Pobblebonk are not webbed, but they have a shovel or spade-like structure on their hind toe that helps them dig. Pobblebonks occupy wetlands, rivers, farms and dams. They occur throughout Tasmania, Victoria and along the east coast of New South Wales.

Pobblebonk males compete with their calls to attract females emerging from burrows after rain.

https://www.wildlife.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/91643/Pobblebonk.pdf