Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

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nephrurus
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Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by nephrurus »

... or Perth Herping.

This goes out to Hans...

I moved to Perth, Western Australia about 4 weeks ago to pursue a job working in the environmental arm of a consultancy. The pay was pretty good but the main attraction was plenty of field work in some fairly awesome places.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we had an election and a government that was ever-so-slightly less benevolent to the mining companies came to power and the mining companies postponed a lot of the enviro work they needed done. SO my spring of field work went out the window so I've been making my own field work, pursuing some of the Perth critters with relentless zeal.

As I arrived in September, my first thouht was it's "too cold". With a tiny bit of guidance from the locals I was back on track.

Perth is built on a tremendous sand plain and hence the interesting incredibly infertile scrubland has suffered from landclearing. There are still good bits around Perth but for all intents and purposes the swan coastal plain is not in great shape. Now "dieback" (Phytophora sp.) is killing whats left in some areas.
It sounds doom and gloom because it is. This city is sprawling at an alarming rate and people are sucking what water they can from the water table as well. Some academics have suggested Perth might be the worlds first ghost city as water supplies are very limited. Well, if that happened at least the critters would catch a break.

Anyway, enough pinko greenie hippy enviro crap... we want herps....

My first find was this common and AWESOME Jan's Burrowing Snake Simoselaps bertholdii. They are actually very common and can find them along the back of perth beaches.

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I fluked a rare one as well. This lovely Neelaps calonotus. They're endemic to the perth sandplain.

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A more common snake species is the much larger Brachyurophis semifasciatus. They are usually found in the semi-arid to arid areas. They also occur on the Perth Sandplain.

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More locally (I live near the beach) you can, on a hot quiet day, find a large highly venomous snake slithering around the dunes behind the beach. Dugites Pseudonaja affinis are the western answer to the eastern brown snake. Highly venomous with lots of "character". They like eating rats, so they like living near people.
I managed to find a tiny hatchling out herping that was very well behaved. I love the second shot.

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Perth has a lot of people and they like to dump stuff in the bush. Clear up Australia mustn't be that strong over here as there is HEAPs of stacks of old asbestos sheeting, tiles, bricks. You think it's be great for herps but theres so much "AC" and natural cover that density is very low.

I found some of these Slender Bluetongues Cyclodomorphus celatus under some old pieces of stone that'd been dumped on the side of the road.

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Under some bricks I found a legless lizard Delma fraseri.

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And under some massive sheets of asbestos sheeting I found two adult Western Bluetongues Tiliqua occipitalis AND a little new born baby!

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In the sand around the place you get the amazingly common burrowing skink Lerista praepedita. They are pretty small (up to about 2 inches).

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Another burrower (and my first of the genus!) was this Aprasia repens. They are actually a Pygopodid, which is practically a gecko.

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Further outside of Perth you get the hills which are a lot rockier with decent bits of forest. Much of the granite areas have been smashed or stolen or wrecked, but if you can find a good area *JACKPOT!*.

These shinglebacks are pretty common all over the place, even in suburban perth.

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But under a few bits of exfoliating granite I found a heap of things.

Egernia napoleonis

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And this tiny hatchling Parasuta gouldii.

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This broad banded Sand Swimmer Eremiascincus richardsonii was at the south western extent of their range.

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In the sandy areas around the place I managed to find some Lerista distinguenda, another burrowing skink.

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And sitting on the dead branches about the place you can sometimes spy a Western Bearded Dragon Pogona minor.

And that concludes a good whack of the common Perth Herps. There are a few more I'm yet to get. I'll add them as they are located.


-H
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Crazins
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Crazins »

Amazing photography of really really cool herps. Now I really have to visit Australia....

-Marisa
will lattea
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by will lattea »

That was a great post! Awesome photos all the way through. You nailed the lighting/ color on that blue tounge and I've never seen a shingleback with colors like that... really cool. Thanks for sharing!
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RenoBart
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by RenoBart »

That first blue-tongue shot is awesome.

:thumb: Bart
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Schell
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Schell »

Awesome animals and great photos!

Thanks for sharing!!
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Jeff Lemm
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Jeff Lemm »

Great shots! You're lucky to be living in Perth, I miss WA. Hopefully I'll get back there soon. Keep the pics coming!
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Jason Ksepka »

Wow, what a spectacular post, I am speechless. Thanks for taking the time to post this.
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Warren
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Warren »

That airborne shingleback shot was awesome! Thanks for some great images of some tiny critters.
Egernia
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Egernia »

Very nice herps and photos! I'll be in Australia for my 5th trip in early November and will be visiting Perth towards the 3rd week of Nov. I hope I'm lucky enough to see a few of what you have posted here. Thanks for posting.

Richard
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Nshepard
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Nshepard »

That shingleback is crazy...didn't know they could look that cool! Well done, great stuff here!
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nephrurus
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by nephrurus »

Richard, you're turning up at the right time. You should see plenty about the place. It might be a bit late alot of the burrowing snakes, but you should see a dugite, a tiger snake and shingleback.

The shingleback I really wanted to photograph are the ones out around Kalgoorlie. I saw a roadkill one that was bright red on the head. Amazing looking animal.

-H
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Martti Niskanen
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Martti Niskanen »

Great post. I particularly liked the Neelaps.

Cheers

Martti
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

This goes out to Hans...
Woo-hoo! An entire post just for me - and what a post it is! There's a lot to learn from - not only herp-wise, but also photo-tech wise.

Thank you very much for putting this together!

You said in the Goldfield post "Lighting is the inbuilt flash that controls an external SB-900 speedlight." How do you use it with tiny animals? Can you leave it on the camera without the lens creating a shadow on the critters? Or do you take it off and wield it in your left hand?

Hans
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nephrurus
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by nephrurus »

"Lighting is the inbuilt flash that controls an external SB-900 speedlight." How do you use it with tiny animals? Can you leave it on the camera without the lens creating a shadow on the critters? Or do you take it off and wield it in your left hand?

The 90mm macro means i can get pretty close to critters without the lens causing a shadow. Sometimes it's annoying, but if it's a really tiny critter I just crop in a bit. It's not that bigger deal as these photos aren't for billboards or anything larger than an A4 print. I usually wield my sb-900 in my left hand. That wonderful second flash removes the really harsh shadows created by a single flash source.

-H
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Thanks much, Henry!
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monklet
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by monklet »

Super stuff. The Brachyurophis semifasciatus is remarkably suggestive of the North American, Thornscrub Hooknosed Snake Gyalopion quadrangulare.
http://www.reptilesofaz.org/Snakes-Subp ... ulare.html
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by chris_mcmartin »

monklet wrote:Super stuff. The Brachyurophis semifasciatus is remarkably suggestive of the North American, Thornscrub Hooknosed Snake Gyalopion quadrangulare.
and the Simoselaps bertholdii sure reminds me of Rhinocheilus lecontei.
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nephrurus
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by nephrurus »

...And your Horned Toads next to our thorny devils...

Convergent evolution... it wonderful stuff! It's amazing how across the globe you get lineages that do roughly the same thing to solve a similar problem. There are also striking similarities between our burrowing frogs and the american Spadefoots.

-H
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Zach_Lim »

that burrowing snake is like Australia's answer to North America's long nosed! gorgeous little guy!
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Viridovipera »

Who would have thought a post that had mostly skinks and other lizards would be so awesome and interesting. Thanks again for posting!

What's the habitat like up in northern WA? Do you get subtropical forests up there or is it mostly just still scrubbrush and desert?

Can't wait for the next installment ;)

-Alex
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nephrurus
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by nephrurus »

Viridovipera, lizards are interesting. You find so many of them it's important to find them interesting.
NW WA is pretty nice. Search out my "North Kimberley" post. Alot of the country up there is tropical savannah. There's alot of massive sandstone country as well, particularly in the North.


The next instalment:

Yesterday evening perth received about 10mm of rain in a lovely thunderstorm.... you know the kind with fat juicy raindrops that pound the roof and making you wonder whether it's actually hail thats falling.. Preceding weather was warm and humid. Yes, it was time....

I've wanted to see Turtle Frogs Myobatrachus gouldi ever since I first saw them in an Australian Natural History magazine when i was probably about 8. Well, unfortunately the magazine is no longer with us. The Australian Museum didn't see fit to be producing the best natural history magazine in Australia... Cant' make money in producing quality publications...

Fortunately we still have turtle frogs, not 2kms from where I live. This is a true SW WA endemic. Their closest relatives are the Sandhill Frogs in Shark Bay. They are one of few species to burrow head first and are totally unique in appearence and life history.

Frogs aren't big on long-term relationships, but these guys are different. To deal with the climatic conditions, these frogs actually form pairs early on in the season (now) and burrow together, emerging only to feed on termites when conditions are suitable (after summer rain).
Later in the year it'll be drier with fewer opportunities to emerge so it's imperative to pair up now.

During the hotter, drier period the female lays eggs in their burrow (they're living together now) which develop over the next 2 months or so (not 100% sure on development length, so don't quote me). Then when the first winter rains come the eggs are almost ready to hatch. Once the rains have set it the eggs hatch and above ground conditions are much more suitable for the survival of metamorphs.

Well, last night males were calling madly for a mate. They are particularly difficult to locate, but fortunately they call above ground so after a little while we found several.

Amazing little critters and a great "tick!"

Photos will go onto Pbase.com/nephrurus later on this week (tomorrow probably).

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All the best,


Henry Cook
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Re: Pertherpin'... (Australian thread)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Turtle frogs....what amazing creatures. Right out of a horror shooter featuring mutated babies (sorry, I translate too many video games). They seem to have an amazing natural history. Wow.
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