Central Australia (yes another one!)

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jordo
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Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by jordo »

With Dan and Stewart both posting awesome Alice Springs trip reports here I'm sure you'll either be keen to see more or completely sick of it by now :lol:
During the spring/summer I have been up in Alice a few times for my field research, which I will talk about later. Having this great opportunity to spend a decent chunk of time in one of outback Australias best herping locations, I went pretty hard and here are the finds:

So first up I'll get the feathered reptiles out of the way!
Black kites characterised in flight by the forked tail
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Australia's iconic wedge-tailed eagle often observed with road kill as in this case
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Spinifex pidgeon, these comical little birds will often dash into vegetationa and amongst spinifex rather than taking flight
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Major Mitchell's
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Western Bowerbird, this was the resident camp bird that would raid my fruit and leave sloppy presents all over the place, yet never have the decency to hang around for a decent photo
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Black fronted Dotterels were often found near permanent water
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Pied Butcher bird
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On the lighter nights the nocturnal birds of prey were abundant on the roads including tawny frogmouths, spotted and owlet night jars, boobook owls and barn owls like this one
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Australasian Grebe
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Red-backed Kingfisher
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Black faced Cuckoo Shrike
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One of my favourites, the Rainbow bee-eater
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These fairy martins were common around Uluru, collecting mud from puddles on the walking path which they use to build their nests
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Pacific heron
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Little button quail were also numerous on the roads at night
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Ringneck parrot
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Brown falcon that let me nice and close for photos
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White winged triller
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This Yellow throated miner was part of a small very curious family begging for food
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Dingoes were reasonably abundant both during the day and at night but often very wary of people
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Central Australia is also home to some magnificent invertebrates:

And after saying that I'm pretty sure this "elephant beetle" species is introduced...
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There are several species of colourful native cockroaches that I've often found associated with Triodia
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Pie dish beetles are common inhabitants of leaf litter on which they feed
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I've only known Tiger beetles from the margins of salt lakes where they burrow in the crust, so I was surprised to find one under a bin where I was staying. These ferocious predators are armed with massive mandibles, they're incredibly fast runners and will speed along until they run into an unfortunate prey item and clamp down.
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I was also finding a few interesting grasshoppers on the roads at night.
Toad hoppers are huge fat grasshoppers that camouflage well in rocky habitat
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Leopard grasshopper
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Can't remember the name of this species but they were pretty funky looking with velvety fur
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I tracked down this Gumleaf katydid by call. These katydids are a decent size and being predatory they have a nasty bite
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I was lucky to stumble across this scenario at my field site, the parasitic wasp had already subdued the spider and was carting it away to be buried with an egg. The spider, while paralysed by the wasps sting, would then be eaten alive by the wasp larvae.
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Unfortunately I wasn't around for any decent rain events so I missed out on some of the more seasonal burrowing frogs but I did get all the common species.
Neobatrachus sudelli found in the dunes south of Alice
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Litoria gilleni were numerous in the rocky gorges
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Litoria rubella, they often enjoyed the acoustics offered by the toilet where I stayed
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Opisthodon spenceri, another common species that seemed to pop up everywhere
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I'll start the reptiles very soon!
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jordo
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by jordo »

Amphibolurus longirostris were common in more woodland type habitat, often along drainage lines
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During my first trip there was always a fire or two somewhere, one night we went looking for any critters that might flush out
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The result was several Amphibolurus gilberti fleeing from the flames
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The obligatory Pogona vitticeps, a nice orange, heavily gravid female
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Ctenophorus caudicinctus was the resident rock specialist dragon in the MacDonald Ranges
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Tympanocryptis centralis found in sparsely vegetated rocky areas, demonstrate amazing camouflage
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Diporiphora winnecki found on a sand dune
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Ctenophorus nuchalis
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Ctenophorus rufescens - this was one of my main targets on the second trip and a highlight. I think between two of us we saw 5 individuals in what seemed like about 4 hours, but they were extremely flighty and difficult to get close to.
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Ctenophorus isolepis another sprinter among the lizards dashing between spinifex tussocks on the dunes
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Varanus acanthurus
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Varanus tristis, this individual lived in the roof where I stayed, he was often betrayed by the sound of claws on corrugated iron
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Varanus eremius, an awesome goanna but terrible posers, this one dashed after only one shot
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Varanus gilleni
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Varanus gouldii
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And of course Varanus giganteus, I'm still yet to see a huge one but even the smaller ones I've seen just have something awesome about them, very unique from other monitors
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Now I need to get some sleep, more to come soon.
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TNWJackson
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by TNWJackson »

Really enjoying this so far Jordan, looking forward to the rest (hopefully some elapids!).
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jordo
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by jordo »

TNWJackson wrote:Really enjoying this so far Jordan, looking forward to the rest (hopefully some elapids!).
Thanks mate. Sorry I couldn't put it all up in one hit, I decided to group families to ensure I didn't miss anything but this also makes it a bit longer to organise photos.
I got some very awesome snakes, one elapid in particular is quite a gem for the Alice Springs region. I will hopefully get the rest posted tonight.
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jordo
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by jordo »

Looks like it's all for you Jackson.
Here's the rest.

The Moloch I forgot about while posting the dragons...
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Now skinks:

Carlia triacantha
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Cyclodomorphus melanops
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Lerista frosti
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Lerista desertorum
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Lerista bipes
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Morethia ruficauda
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Liopholis slateri. This is my study species. They occupy a very specific habitat along drainages where soil accumulates at the base of shrubs creating a small mound. The skinks dig multi-entranced burrows into these mounds. I was investigating the microclimate of their burrow systems and the humidity and thermal properties of the mounds.
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Liopholis striata
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Tiliqua occipitalis
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Tiliqua multifasciata
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Cryptoblepharus australis
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Notoscincus ornatus
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Proablepharus reginae, I discovered a small population of these rarely seen skinks and although previously thought to be a diurnal skink I cosistantly only found them at night.
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Ctenotus alacer
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Ctenotus saxatilis
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Ctenotus brooksi
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Ctenotus leonhardii
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Ctenotus septenarius (yet to be confirmed)
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Geckoes

Crenodactylus ocellatus
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Diplodactylus conspicillatus
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Diplodactylus galeatus
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Gehyra montium
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Gehyra purpurascens
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Nephrurus amyae
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Nephrurus laevissimus
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Nephrurus levis levis
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Oedura marmorata juvie
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adult
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Lucasium damaeum
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Lucasium stenodactylum
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Rhynchoedura ornata
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Strophurus intermedius
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Strophurus ciliaris
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Heteronotia binoe 1 - rocky
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2 - sandy
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3 - standard
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Delma nasuta
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Delma borea
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Delma tincta
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Lialis burtonis
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Pygopus nigriceps
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Now what you've been waiting for...

Ramphotyphlops centralis
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Aspidites ramsayi
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Antaresia stimsoni
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Morelia spilota bredli
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Acanthophis pyrrhus
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Brachyurophis incinctus
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Demansia psammophis
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Furina ornata
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Pseudonaja mengdeni
"plain"
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black-headed
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This is a very rare pattern variant in the Alice Springs region, I didn't know it was anything special at the time as it was the first mengdeni I'd seen but it became apparent that it was something special after a lot of abuse when I put the photo on facebook
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Pseudonaja modesta
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Pseudechis australis
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Parasuta monachus
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Simoselaps anomolus
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Suta punctata, went into the sandy country as a storm was brewing to try my luck for this species. The weather turned sour but I still got one!
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Suta suta, by far the most common snake around Alice
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Vermicella vermiformis, a main target on the second trip and ended up seeing 3.
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yoloherper
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by yoloherper »

When i saw the woma and bredli i thought it couldn't get much better but the banded mendengi was amazing! Defintely one of the coolest snakes I've seen posted on here.
-Elliot Schoenig
Mattsnake
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by Mattsnake »

Great thread Jordan, makes me miss that place so much! Never get sick of seeing that banded mengdeni either!
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Serpentes
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by Serpentes »

An incredible range of species! Great photos too. I need to get back out to the Alice. Good to see some skink photos, and it's interesting that Proablepharus reginae are nocturnal.
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monklet
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by monklet »

Soooo over-the-top ...never seen a post with so many superb portraits of so many awesome species. :shock: :shock: :shock:

Oh my!
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stewart_macdonald
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by stewart_macdonald »

Great stuff, Jordan! That banded P. mengdeni still blows my mind.


Stewart
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jordo
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by jordo »

Thanks folks.
stewart_macdonald wrote:Great stuff, Jordan! That banded P. mengdeni still blows my mind.

Stewart
Did you see the woma pic as well Stew? :P
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stewart_macdonald
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by stewart_macdonald »

jordo wrote:Did you see the woma pic as well Stew?
I did. And on a completely different note, looks like my car is full for the Iron Range trip later this year.


Stewart
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jordo
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by jordo »

stewart_macdonald wrote:
jordo wrote:Did you see the woma pic as well Stew?
I did. And on a completely different note, looks like my car is full for the Iron Range trip later this year.


Stewart
:o
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moloch
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by moloch »

Hello Jordo

I've been away for a month and am just catching up with the threads. Wow, what an awesome post! You found so much including many top animals. Loved the monitor shots in particular. Looks like you had a superb trip.

Regards,
David
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Montivipera
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Re: Central Australia (yes another one!)

Post by Montivipera »

Jordo!
An absolute killer post! So many cool monitors and you got them all to pose! I also enjoyed the many flavours of Aussie elapids!

Thanks for sharing!

/Sincerely Magnus
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