Weather by the moon

Hochstetter’s Frog; our special Waitãkere Ranges native frog

In the late 1980s Peter Maddison MNZM, then a West Auckland-based conservationist and entomologist heard that a Waiatarua resident, Isobel Beale, had come across around 70 Hochstetter’s frogs run over on the road. Peter was determined that this carnage would not be repeated and in a short space of time organised for Humes NZ to install a concrete pipe as a safe frog thoroughfare for the frogs, just beyond Brabant Road on Scenic Drive. It remains today.

New Zealand’s native frogs (pepeketua) belong to the genus Leiopelma, an ancient group of frogs that have changed very little in the last 70 million years. These frogs are found only in New Zealand, and three species are now extinct leaving only four native species including the most widespread species L. hochstetteri, the more aquatic of the four, which has a Declining and Vulnerable status throughout the North Island. In the Waitākeres we have the sub-species L. hochstetteri ‘Waitākere’, and there are at least 10 other populations in the northern half of the North Island. Members of the Leiopelma genus have a number of primitive and unique traits that separate them from most other species. Their ribs are not fused to vertebrae, they don’t have external eardrums, and there is no tadpole stage – the eggs hatch directly into frogs. They also don’t croak like most frogs.

Hochstetter’s frogs are nocturnal and shelter by day in wet crevices or under stones or logs close to the water’s edge in shaded streams in native forest, emerging at night to feed on insects.

The main threat to the species is the destruction and modification of its habitat including deforestation, gold mining, storm water discharge and severe weather events, feral goats and pigs causing erosion and stream siltation, and their vulnerability to introduced predators weather by the moon

Ken Ring’s predictions for December and January

The fine periods this summer are the second and last weeks in

December, and the second and fourth weeks in January. December will be wetter than January. A mainly average season, there are no heat waves, with the fine spells lasting no longer than about a week. The hottest day is expected to be around January 22 (28°C).

The wettest week this summer is the first week of December.

There is heavy rain again at the end of the third week, and, after a changeable Christmas Day, the last week may be dry. The 11th/12th of December and 22nd/23rd of January should be the best weekends for outdoor activities.

Most rain in January will be in the last two days.

For fishermen, the highest tides in December and January are in the first week. December’s best fishing bite-times are noon on 1st-4th and 17th-20th, dusk on 9th-12th, and 25th-27th; and for

January, noon on 2nd-4th and 16th-19th, and dusk on 9th-11th and 25th-27th.

For gardeners, December planting is best on the 5th and pruning on the 20th. There is no day in January when planting is best, but pruning is good on the 31st. For preserving and longer shelf-life, pick on the neap tide days of December 12th and 28th, and January 13th and 27th.

such as rats and cats. The Department of Conservation has purchased considerable amounts of suitable land to prevent further degradation of some of their habitat and attempts are being made to better monitor their populations. The frog is generally dark brown, grows up to 50mm long, has partially webbed feet and has more warts than the other native frogs. Auckland Council has been working to manage three distinct populations of Hochstetter frog on the mainland, in the Hunua Ranges, Dome Valley and the This Hochstetter’s frog was found by Roman Thomas in Waitākere Ranges. Monitoring by EcoQuest a small drain on the side of the Upper Nihotupu dam in late 2020 showed that the Hunua Ranges access road this spring. population was stable, likely due to intense predator control across the Hunua Ranges to protect the kōkako. Conversely the Waitākere Ranges population is steadily declining with an estimated current number of around 1,000. No juvenile or sub adult frogs were detected at either site in this survey. The lack of young frogs is indicative of a potentially declining population. Frogs are present in a number of streams in the Waitākere Ranges, with the largest numbers in the Upper Huia Dam catchment area. Although this used to be a stronghold it has been the colony with the greatest decline in numbers in recent years. Auckland Council has partnered with Conservation Volunteers New Zealand and Mondelez International (owner of Cadbury) to set up a predator control programme across a 309-hectare area in the Upper Huia Dam Catchment, including a grid of traps and bait stations installed within the riparian margin on each side of the streams. This will include a total of 900 bait stations and 45 traps across the 300ha area, which will target both rats and mustelids (stoats, weasels and ferrets). Mondelez is sponsoring the programme for a minimum of three years with $180,000 funding, drawing on their Freddo Frog Cadbury brand, with Freddo “Helping to Save the Frogs” both in Australia and New Zealand. The Mondelez funding will help the recovery of the Hochstetter’s Frog by increasing predator control at key sites, monitoring and population studies, habitat restoration and education. Tracey Parsons, Auckland Council Senior Conservation Advisor says the first pest control round was in late 2019, the second was scheduled for August this year and then postponed due to the Covid-19 lockdown. She is hopeful that work will recommence soon. It is heartening to think there may be an increasing population of Hochstetter’s frogs utilising the Scenic Drive tunnel constructed for them 30 years ago.

Linda CooperLinda Cooper

Councillor for WaitākereCouncillor for Waitākere Please feel free to contact me with Please feel free to contact me with issues or ideasissues or ideas

021 629 533021 629 533 linda.cooper@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz linda.cooper@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Always allow 24 hour error for all forecasting. For future weather for any date, visit www.predictweather.com. © Ken Ring 2021.