Australian Frogs Genus Litoria

We came back from a recent holiday to find a frog in our bathroom. It was sitting on the edge of the bath pretending to be sponge or perhaps invisible. With my new fantastic camera I can take close up pictures so I snapped away very happily.
Then I attempted to name the frog using 'A Field Guide to Frogs of Australia.' by Martyn Robinson. That was a good idea but the problem was that I had taken many photographs much like my first one here, which is pretty much useless for naming a particular frog. I couldn't clearly see the toes, or the colour in the armpits or much else that would help me distinguish this frog from its close relatives

I had managed to place it in the Litoria genus at least. I vowed that next time I would photograph what I needed in order to make a decision as to which frog it was.

These little brown tree frogs all look very, very similar. Sometimes it comes down to the colour of their eyes. Note frog 1 has silver eyes with a cross across it, all helpful for distinguishing who he is.

The next little frog I saw, only a couple of days later again in the bathroom I managed to look for and photograph the colours that I needed.



Here you can quite clearly see the marbling in the groin area, colouring completely hidden in the first photograph.















Notice also the creamy/white tummy. I decided that this was Litoria peronii. They can vary from grey or dark brown to cream and can change colour depending on where they are. He also has a flecking of emerald marks on his back, which I didn't see with my eye but noticed at once in the photograph.









The next photograph was taken yesterday. It was a very hot day so I don't understand why he was where he was. He was on our deck and was almost squashed underfoot by our comings and goings. He blends in so beautifully with the grey of the decking and was very difficult to see.

He was hunched up tight, presumably to keep all moisture in.


Again I checked the marbling and colouring in the thighs, armpits and groin area and decided that this one is Litoria tyleri.
Maybe I'm right, maybe not but I learnt quite a lot about what you can see when you really look very, very closely.

He looks very undignified in this position but be assured that he was quickly given his freedom, tucked inside a nearby bush.