The Dubbo Chronicles 5...Storms a brewing

The heat is finally starting to drop. This week we dipped to the low 30s, and we had rain last week for the first time in ages...

Above: A barn that looks like it will collapse under the weight of the impending storm

Below: Green crops that have been carefully irrigated through the drought 

I took these photos on my way out to my friends at Cumboogle.

Above and Below: The rain from their back porch

We all went and looked at the rain falling (as did Archie, the featured labradoodle), before returning inside to relax with a G&T; and then the frogs started to come out. I heard the noise first, a loud chorus of croaking. I went out and there were literally hundreds of frogs all over the ground and climbing the walls...

From their drive you could also see a  heard of wild goats on the adjacent farm...

So that was a lovely time. Meanwhile back at WBP we are excited to report that the electricity company have put in our transformer and mains power box, so very soon we won't have to run the farm on a generator any longer. The front entrance is almost complete; the wrought iron gates are being forged at the foundry, and they have also started on cutting the top soil away and laying down the bedrock for the driveway. It is a 700 foot long serpentine driveway, which will eventually be covered with weathered limechip. I finally feel like we are moving forward with it all, which is very satisfying. There are still a few small hurdles to jump, but we are still optimistic we will get the foundations in before the start of winter.

Frog Dreaming...

So there I was, inspecting the newly filled lake at the site of the future outflow (to be landscaped as a cascade down into the brook, passing under a drystone wall bridge before flowing off to the farm), when I was startled by a brightly coloured green and gold frog which jumped out of the long grass, and with a splash dived into the lake.

It was a Green and Golden Bell Frog - Litoria aurea. L. aurea is a species which is fairly common in the north island of New Zealand, but which is a protected species in its native Australia. Unlike many frogs they are active during the day and night, hunting for anything from insects to small mice! They also love to sun themselves.

I can remember finding these frogs and tadpoles as a child in the drains and ponds around the various farms I grew up on. We would catch the tadpoles and watch them grow in one of mother's large preserving jars with some oxygen weed. Hours of fun. 

Above: 2 Frogs mating in the lake, with a third wanting to join in!

Below: Same Frogs...

So I was pleased to find that a family of them have made a home at Willowbrook. I only hope that this year the lilies establish themselves and they have some lilly pads to sit on! I guess it also means that the water quality in the lake must be acceptable. Hopefully we will now be able to form a microcosm of aquatic life there (if the family of protected Herons don't fish too many of the tadpoles et al out again).

Here are a few pictures looking over the lake at sunset, taken in between sun showers...