The Friends of Kloofendal (FroK) organises different guided two hour walks over weekends to the community at Kloofendal Nature Reserve.
Now after rain and in the warmth of summer, the nature reserve is thriving with life, plants flowering, little creatures all waking up, crawling and flying about.
This past weekend, a Frog evening was hosted where people could learn about the amphibian.
The evening first started with a presentation from Warren Schmidt, a herpetologist and author, on frogs and reptiles, particularly on those found in the nature reserve.
The presentation had the inclusion of sound the frogs make at night so those participating might recognise them later.
The participants were given nets and went into the wetland area as darkness fell.
“The first frog we spotted was a common river frog. Schmidt picked it up and showed us its sharp little nose, the beautiful patterning on its body and its little eyes curiously staring at us. The water in the little stream was clear and on moving the vegetation out of the way, we found just so many little water creatures. Whatever was caught was put into two basins which were half filled with water, and Schmidt identified all the little animals for us,” said FroK’s Karin Spottiswoode.
The crew then went onto the dam where they found numerous red toads, on the dry part of the overflow area of the dam and on the dam embankment, big, fat healthy looking toads.
“Initially the participants picked up the roads in their nets, but as time went by, everyone became braver and would proudly hold the toads in their hands. The toads were really quite placid and tolerant to being handled. It was so interesting to see their tympanic membranes (ears) behind their eyes. Their eyes were round, big and shiny. How big some of the toads were might have been due to the female frogs carrying numerous eggs. Apparently a toad can carry up to 20 000 eggs,” said Spottiswoode.
During the week FroK runs a hands-on environmental educational walks for school children, as young as grade 0 all the way up to grade 12.
University students in the past have also benefited from our environmental educational programme.
Forthcoming weekend guided walks/ events include a Bat evening on Friday 4 December from 5am to 8pm; Butterfly walk on Sunday 6 December, 9am to11am; Goldmine Tour on Sunday 6 December from 2pm to 4pm; Frog evening Saturday 12 December from 6 to 8pm; Birding walk Sunday 13 December from 7am to 9am; Bushfood and drink walk on Sunday 20 December from 9am to11am.
Booking for all these events are with Karin on the FroK cell 079-693-5608, is essential.
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