Autumn Highlands Holidays – Frogging at Mahai

30 Replies

We recently started nurturing more than a passing interest in South Africa’s different kinds of amphibians, adding another fascinating facet to our enjoyment of our natural heritage. When we visited the Royal Natal National Park in March the trout dam at Mahai proved an excellent spot to go looking for frogs and toads, and other aquatic life, as soon as darkness fell.

(Look out for a special feature post about the Common River Frog to be published here in early June, and follow the links for more on the Painted Reed Frog and Raucous Toad in the meantime)

Common River Frog
Common River Frog
Common River Frog
Painted Reed Frog
Painted Reed Frog
Painted Reed Frog
Raucous Toad
Raucous Toad
Freshwater Crab
Freshwater Crab

By day, the dam at Mahai is a favourite spot for a quiet picnic. We also saw a few trout fisherman achieving success with their rods.

Mahai Dam
The Amphitheatre from Mahai Dam
Tranquility at the Mahai Dam

 

30 thoughts on “Autumn Highlands Holidays – Frogging at Mahai”

      1. naturebackin

        I am not clued up on calls, but knowing how variable in looks many species of frogs can be, I would guess that the calls might be a more reliable way of identifying them – provided they are calling of course!

        Liked by 1 person

  5. perdebytjie

    Paddas interesseer my nog altyd. Hierdie is ‘n baie welkome inskrywing en jou foto’s is pragtig, Dries. Ek is altyd so opgewonde as hier ‘n padda in my tuin is. Hier was vroeër heelwat, maar mens sien nie meer nie…dit bekommer my. Paddas is omtrent die eerste aanduiding of die omgewing gesond is of nie.

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  6. Anne

    The closer we observe nature the more we see. I have also become fascinated by the colouring of the different frogs I come across. The regular frog choruses we used to enjoy from the dam below our home dried up with the water ):

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. Sreejith Nair

    So good to get introduced to the amazing diversity of fauna in your place…

    I live in Kerala, and close to the western ghats, one of the hottest hot spot of bio diversity in the world, and we could see how amphibians are affected by rising temperatures due to global warming.

    Documenting them and trying to protect their habitat is really important I feel…

    Thank you so much for your effort and sharing the images 🙂

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    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Amphibians really are a good indicator of the health of our environment, Sreejith, and sadly the picture you paint seems to be true for most of the rest of the earth as well. Let’s hope that our eyes will open before all hope is lost!

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