Frogging Outing at Kenilworth Racecourse, 07 August 2024.

 

Around thirty hopeful froggers gathered at the Kenilworth Racecourse on a pleasant evening in early August. The helpful guides who worked at the nature reserve explained the rules to us, we were split in two groups and off we went. As dusk fell, the chorus of frog calls grew, somehow managing to drown out the concert sound-check which was happening in the background.

It didn’t take us long to net our first frog. We all stared intently at the tiny frog in the observation tub. The only way to tell apart the more common Flat Caco from the critically endangered Micro Frog was to check if there is webbing between the toes on the hindlimbs. This one had no webbing, so it was a Flat Caco. However, the excitement was not diminished as this was still the first time many in our group had seen one.

We caught a few more Flat Cacos over the next hour before it was time to switch with the other group and move to the next wetland. As we were switching over, we found a Cape Sand Frog sitting in the path. We had heard their loud, chicken-like calls throughout the night, but this was the first one we had actually seen.

On our way to the next wetland, we found a gigantic Cape River Frog and the inevitable Clicking Stream Frog. Not long after arriving at the new wetland, we managed to net our first Micro Frog! We found a few more Micro Frogs and before we knew it, our time was up.
However, as we headed back to the parking lot, a beautiful Cape Sand Frog was found calling in the flooded grass, vocal sac fully inflated. I didn’t mind getting my knees wet to get a nice shot of this stunning frog.

This was not my first time frogging at the racecourse, but it was the most memorable. Hopefully, this outing can happen for many more years to come so that others can have a similarly excellent experience.

Photographs by David van Wijk, Joel Radue and Aadam Abdullah.

Report by Aadam Abdullah.

 

My first experience of Frogging – Kenilworth Racecourse, August 2024.

It is a good thing birdwatching is more accessible than frogging and can be conducted in the garden, on a morning run, in the park and most importantly in daylight.
Frogging, however, requires banding together in groups at night for safety, buying boots for wading in wetlands, and exceptional eyesight.
However, as the recent Cape Bird Club annual frogging event in Kenilworth Racecourse’s Conservation Area revealed, frogging is worth the cold, wet, and dark – as spotting and viewing frogs, especially critically endangered ones, is a highly rewarding activity, with a soundtrack to boot.
Fayruz Prins (centre) from Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area briefs the CBC group. The Moolla family, from second left, were out in full force, in their new Wellington boots.

Frogging is an activity not only appealing to children, but one in which they are required. The youth who joined, using small nets, were the most persistent and successful at finding the tiny frogs on the August evening.
Katharine Child (third from the right) seen with some of the junior CBC members and parents.

The target Micro Frog is among the tiniest in Africa, and resides in fresh water that is murky and brackish, almost the same colour as the Micro Frogs that range from green to brown are. When identified and caught, the tiny frogs were then placed in a viewing container briefly before being released back into the water.

It is no exaggeration to say we were looking for the smallest of frogs. The critically endangered Micro Frog is less than 2cm long. It looks strikingly similar to the Flat Caco, an equally minuscule and dainty frog, except the Caco lacks the almost invisible webbing, best spotted by those with youthful eyesight.

The Cape Bird Club’s annual frogging event is worth the effort. Just being in nature, outside at night is fun and unusual – despite the incongruity of garish yellow McDonald’s signs and large office blocks bordering the racecourse and its pristine Cape Flats Sand Fynbos. Most of this fynbos has been destroyed by development.

It is a real privilege to gain access to the Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area, a 52-hectare (130-acre) nature reserve. The reserve is one of the few places where the Micro Frogs reside, only living in some other areas in the Overberg and encompassing a total worldwide range of 7km. (This is according to Wikipedia).

The reserve, which gives one a sense of how much biodiversity and life was destroyed by urban development in Cape Town, is managed by the private NGO Nature Connect. Nature Connect staff guided the evening, answered questions, and ensured frogs were not distressed by being kept in viewing trays for too long.

The sound of Cape Sand Frogs was also delightful, as was catching sight of them with their expanded throats ready to croak as we exited the racecourse.

In short, frogging really is fun, but I am really glad I can birdwatch in the daytime, in dry terrain, and in the safety of a garden. Nothing, not even a critically endangered Micro Frog, quite beats the beauty and accessibility of a bird.
Thanks to Mike Buckham for co-ordinating the event and to the staff at KRCA, especially Fayruz Prins, for the introduction and for leading the outing. Thanks to all who contributed photographs to these two articles.

Photographs by David van Wijk and Penny Dichmont.

Report by Katharine Child.