Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

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stewart_macdonald
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Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by stewart_macdonald »

June 2010. Winter. Cold. Dark. Depressing. To maximise the chances of finding new reptiles, we decided to head north as quickly as possible. First night: on the side of the road just south of Augathella. Away from the thermal buffer of the coast, the setting of the sun brought bitter coldness. I was thankful for my comfy swag and my sub-zero rated sleeping bag. The next morning we visited friends in Longreach then headed up the Landsborough Highway to Bladensberg National Park, near Winton. While travelling along the highways of the Australian outback during the day, the most conspicuous animals you're likely to see (excluding the grey nomads) are the raptors. Black kites (Milvus migrans) are particularly numerous, soaring on thermals above, or picking at carcasses on the roadside.

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Black kite (Milvus migrans)

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Brown falcon (Falco berigora)

Even during Winter, daytime temperatures in outback Queensland are usually high enough to encourage reptile activity. The first reptile of the trip was sadly not a pretty red snake, but was instead a Gilbert's dragon (Amphibolurus gilberti) running around an old shearing shed in the National Park. We camped overnight in Bladensburg. It was still cold, and I was still thankful for my sleeping bag.

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Gilbert's dragon (Amphibolurus gilberti)

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Bynoe's gecko (Heteronotia binoei)

We packed up the next morning and headed towards Mt Isa. We arrived in the evening and stole some free wi-fi from The Man in order to plan the next day. We wanted to check out some of the well-known bird spots to try our luck at some of the local grass-wrens early the next morning. We successfully saw Kalkadoon grass-wrens (Amytornis ballarae), but dipped out on Carpentarian grass-wrens (Amytornis dorotheae). We were lucky enough to be in town when a local snake catcher had caught a particularly exciting snake, the Carpentarian whipsnake (Demansia flagellatio). This snake is fabled to be the sexiest snake in Australia, but the specimen we got to see was a little on the drab side. Because it was caught by someone else, it doesn't count as a reptick. Two days in and still no ticks (apart from some of the eight-legged kind).

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Carpentarian whipsnake (Demansia flagellatio). Caught by someone else on a snake call-out in Mt Isa.

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Ring-tailed dragon (Ctenophorus caudicinctus). Found while looking for Carpentarian grass-wrens.

All the birds and snakes in Isa had delayed us, and we ended up leaving much later than we had planned. We only made it to Camooweal, 188km west of isa, before night fall. We camped down by the river and got up early the next morning to watch some birds (sadly not of the Swedish variety).

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Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

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Brolga (Grus rubicunda)

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Australasian darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae)

Our goal was to leave Camooweal and make it to Katherine before night, a drive of over 1,000km. That left us little time for reptile hunting, and even littler time for Honeycomb Maxibons. The only stop we wanted to make was at the Mataranka hot springs. We figured if Swedish backpackers were anywhere, it'd be there. We were wrong on the Swedish backpacker front, but we did get to see some hot birds of a slightly different variety.

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Red goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus)

The caravan park at Mataranka is one of the best places to view red goshawks, with a pair regularly nesting there for years. We got some local intel and found the nest with no problems. We parked the car nearby and waited for the birds to fly in, our telephoto lenses at the ready. We waited some more. Then a bit more. We got sick of waiting, so we got out and walked closer to the nest to see if anything was going on. As we approached the nest, we flushed a goshawk from a nearby tree. It had been there the whole time, blending in with the branches. The bird flew off and we decided to try our luck elsewhere. We went snorkelling in the hot springs, and I was delighted to get my first new reptick of the trip, and tick number 8 for the year.

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Northern red-faced turtle (Emydura victoriae)

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Northern red-faced turtle (Emydura victoriae) habitat

After the high of the turtick, we went back to the birds but didn't manage to get any better photos. We called it quits and headed towards Katherine. We arrived in town at about 8 PM and headed to a friend's place. The next day we explored the local area, including Katherine Gorge.

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Slender rainbow-skink (Carlia gracilis)

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Black flying-fox (Pteropus alecto)

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Western brown snake (Pseudonaja nuchalis). Caught by someone else on a snake call-out in Katherine.

While looking for (and finding) Gouldian finches, we stumbled across reptick number two: Diporiphora albilabris.

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White-lipped two-line dragon (Diporiphora albilabris)

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Greater black whipsnake (Demansia papuensis). Caught by someone else on a snake call-out in Katherine.

We left Katherine the next day and headed up to Umbrawarra Gorge, near Pine Creek. That night we got reptick number three: Cryptophis pallidiceps.

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Mertens' water monitor (Varanus mertensi)

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Lesser black whipsnake (Demansia vestigiata)

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Northern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis pallidiceps)

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Crinia sp. Probably C. bilingua. It wasn't calling, and I didn't have a gel electrophoresis kit with me, so its identify shall forever remain a mystery.

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Northern laughing tree frog (Litoria rothii)

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Litoria sp. Maybe L. tornieri or L. pallida?

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Children's python (Antaresia childreni)

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Children's python (Antaresia childreni) with some star-trails in the background.

We camped overnight and headed up to Darwin the next day.

---
New repticks:
Emydura victoriae
Diporiphora albilabris
Cryptophis pallidiceps
Carlia gracilis



Stewart
Ecto Hunter
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by Ecto Hunter »

BRAVO! wonderful photography and great poses
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moloch
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by moloch »

Great stuff, Stewart. Your photos are excellent. Finding the Red Goshawk would have been a real thrill.

Regards,
David
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Great animals, well photographed!
This snake is fabled to be the sexiest snake in Australia
By lonely outback dwellers who don't even have access to sheep? :mrgreen:
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stewart_macdonald
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by stewart_macdonald »

Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:
This snake is fabled to be the sexiest snake in Australia
By lonely outback dwellers who don't even have access to sheep? :mrgreen:
Have a look at the photo on this page:

http://www.snakesense.com/2009/11/19/new-whipsnake/

The pic was taken by Gunther Schmida and is the pic used in the current version of the main Australian reptile field guide. The photo shows an animal that even a sheep farmer would consider sexy.


Stewart
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dezertwerx
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by dezertwerx »

Love that last pic! :thumb:
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justinm
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by justinm »

Can we see the Mertens Water Monitor pic larger size.
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stewart_macdonald
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by stewart_macdonald »

justinm wrote:Can we see the Mertens Water Monitor pic larger size.
Click on the pic to go to its flickr page. From there you can view it at an amazing 600 pixels wide.


Stewart
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Lovin' the Emydura victoriae. Any more pictures of it?

Great picture of the V. mertensii too. Absolutely incredible habitat!
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Cole Grover
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by Cole Grover »

Friggin' sweet! I am always amazed by the ecological and morphological diversity of Litoria. Also, your Grus looks a lot like our Grus! That's not something I expected.

-Cole
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by jgjulander »

Is the childreni with the star trails photoshopped, or did it hold that still? Fantastic post!
Justin
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stewart_macdonald
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by stewart_macdonald »

Thanks for all the comments, guys.
jgjulander wrote:Is the childreni with the star trails photoshopped, or did it hold that still?
Hi Justin,

The snake was there at the start of the photo when the flashes went off. I left the shutter open for another 20 mins after that to capture the star trails. The snake was long gone when I came back.


Stewart
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stewart_macdonald
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by stewart_macdonald »

Part two is here for those following this enthralling saga.


Stewart
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Bill Love
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by Bill Love »

Beautiful images! The Mertens monitor on the log in the creek is fantastic. Wish that one was shown larger!
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stewart_macdonald
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by stewart_macdonald »

Bill Love wrote:Beautiful images! The Mertens monitor on the log in the creek is fantastic. Wish that one was shown larger!
This one is slightly larger.

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Mertens' water monitor (Varanus mertensi) by Stewart Macdonald, on Flickr


Stewart
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Leg 1 - Brisbane to Katherine, Australia

Post by Mike Pingleton »

great post, Stewart!

-Mike
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