It’s been a while since I posted here and while much of my time at the moment is taken up with studies, I thought I might just put up some more short posts.
This trip was an Australian Herpetological Society field trip. The AHS has multiple field trips per year where members get the opportunity to be involved in herpetological surveys and learn from some of the extremely experienced members.
The survey took place in Gundabooka NP in Northern Central NSW. The park has an interesting mix of habitat from red sand to rocky hills all harbouring some cool herps. The following pictures are a small portion of the animals seen on the trip despite adverse weather.
Central netted ground dragon, Ctenophorus nuchalis
A couple of geckos were getting around despite the cool nights.
Tessellated gecko, Diplodactylus tessellatus.
Eastern beaked gecko, Rhynchoedura ormsbyi.
When the days warmed up the monitors began to show up. I had an interesting encounter with this individual. It was sitting on the road side and as I approached it, instead of legging it, he simply flattened onto the ground.
After a couple of minutes it regained its confidence and was quite happy to let me stand within a couple of meters.
A couple of scenery shots
And finally the snake highlight; a Murray darling carpet python found on the banks of the Darling river that cuts through the park.
On the drive home we visited Mt Kaputar further east where the recent rain brought out these crazy giant red slugs Triboniophorus sp. nov. “Kaputar”
These slugs were the last sighting on a great trip.
If you’re an aspiring Aussie herper consider checking out the AHS as it really is fantastic organisation for encouraging field herpetology for all levels of knowledge.
Cheers & beers all
Central NSW Australia Herp Survey
Moderator: Scott Waters
- csalemi731
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Re: Central NSW Australia Herp Survey
Great shots. Love the murray darling. Is that a lightning strike in the background of one of the photos?
Re: Central NSW Australia Herp Survey
Thankyou, it certainly was cool to see. Yes we were in a mountainous part of the park and got great views of a storm rolling in.csalemi731 wrote: ↑April 11th, 2019, 12:30 pm Great shots. Love the murray darling. Is that a lightning strike in the background of one of the photos?
- orionmystery
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Re: Central NSW Australia Herp Survey
Great post, Nick. Love those Varanus and Python shots!!!
Re: Central NSW Australia Herp Survey
You have some amazing shots in there! Congratulations on the great trip.