Many creatures were stirring, albeit not a mouse...
I've just returned from a few days in the Collinsville region of northern Queensland, Australia. The herps were out and about despite very hot, dry weather.
The country around Collinsville, while only 100km from the Wet Tropics of Queensland, is very dry. The vegetation changes very abruptly from rainforest to dry forest near the coast, and as you head further away from the coast it gets drier and drier until you're in the outback proper. There are quite a few creeks which feed into the dry country from the wet rainforests and these provide refugia for a number of species which would otherwise not survive the dry conditions.
One such creek:
2011-12-20_08-49-37_184 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
A billabong adjacent to one of the creeks:
2011-12-17_11-05-44_653 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Around the billabong pictured above were numerous fruiting native fig trees. These figs are quite delicious, and the native mammals share my opinion:
2011-12-20_09-35-00_933 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
A little red flying fox near the figs at night:
IMG_4302 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Of course, all this activity does not go unnoticed by predators, including a particularly large carpet python, Morelia spilotes macdowelli, which had curled up for the day at the base of this tree:
2011-12-17_11-13-04_526 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
2011-12-17_11-21-36_27 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
2011-12-17_11-18-58_31 - Copy by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Skinks were abundant in the dry forests, particularly the genus Carlia, which are around 10cm long as adults:
IMG_4430 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Carlia schmeltzii sexy male:
IMG_4465 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Carlia vivax sexy male:
IMG_4488 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Carlia vivax female:
2011-12-15_17-30-38_203 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Carlia munda sexy male:
2011-12-16_16-47-09_707 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Hatchling Morethia taeniopleura:
2011-12-14_09-24-37_93 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Ctenotus taeniolatus, a particularly fast lizard:
2011-12-15_17-34-41_899 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
A fully-grown male Menetia timlowi, one of Australia's smallest reptiles:
2011-12-16_16-52-15_741 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the forest.
Moderator: Scott Waters
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
These little guys are pretty cool - Liburnascincus mundivensis. They bounce around on rocky boulders and are readily approachable and surprisingly inquisitive, often coming up to the camera to check it out:
2011-12-13_07-57-04_39 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
A final skink, Eulamprus brachysoma:
IMG_4086 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
There were a few agamids around as well as the skinks, including the omnipresent and highly variable Diporiphora australis:
IMG_4181 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
IMG_4164 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
And a bearded dragon that decided I was offensive:
IMG_4207 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
And a few freshwater crocs, Crocodylus johnsoni, which I didn't get decent pictures of as they always fled into the water:
2011-12-18_09-00-54_693 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
All these lizards provide a link in the food chain that supports numerous snakes. While not all these snake species are lizard specialists, they will all happily take reptiles when the chance avails:
A bandy-bandy, Vermicella annulata:
IMG_4394 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Bandy-bandys have a cool defensive display whereby they loop some of their body up off the ground. I don't find it particularly menacing myself, but clearly it works in some situations:
IMG_4422 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
A brown tree snake Boiga irregularis:
IMG_4276 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Keelback, Tropidonophis mairii:
IMG_4627 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Common tree snake, Dendrelaphis punctulata:
IMG_4146 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Black whip snake, Demansia vestigiata, a very beautiful specimen. These are among Australia's fastest and most alert elapid snakes. They are diurnal and readily chase down very agile and speedy skinks in the heat of the day:
IMG_4539 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
IMG_4556 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
IMG_4511 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
And it's smaller cousin the collared whip snake, Demansia torquata:
2011-12-20_09-22-13_603 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
That's all for the herpetofauna, but for good measure here is an unadorned rock wallaby Petrogale inornata, and a barking owl. I'll leave it up to you to guess which is which
IMG_4048 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
IMG_4601 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
2011-12-13_07-57-04_39 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
A final skink, Eulamprus brachysoma:
IMG_4086 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
There were a few agamids around as well as the skinks, including the omnipresent and highly variable Diporiphora australis:
IMG_4181 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
IMG_4164 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
And a bearded dragon that decided I was offensive:
IMG_4207 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
And a few freshwater crocs, Crocodylus johnsoni, which I didn't get decent pictures of as they always fled into the water:
2011-12-18_09-00-54_693 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
All these lizards provide a link in the food chain that supports numerous snakes. While not all these snake species are lizard specialists, they will all happily take reptiles when the chance avails:
A bandy-bandy, Vermicella annulata:
IMG_4394 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Bandy-bandys have a cool defensive display whereby they loop some of their body up off the ground. I don't find it particularly menacing myself, but clearly it works in some situations:
IMG_4422 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
A brown tree snake Boiga irregularis:
IMG_4276 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Keelback, Tropidonophis mairii:
IMG_4627 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Common tree snake, Dendrelaphis punctulata:
IMG_4146 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
Black whip snake, Demansia vestigiata, a very beautiful specimen. These are among Australia's fastest and most alert elapid snakes. They are diurnal and readily chase down very agile and speedy skinks in the heat of the day:
IMG_4539 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
IMG_4556 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
IMG_4511 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
And it's smaller cousin the collared whip snake, Demansia torquata:
2011-12-20_09-22-13_603 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
That's all for the herpetofauna, but for good measure here is an unadorned rock wallaby Petrogale inornata, and a barking owl. I'll leave it up to you to guess which is which
IMG_4048 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
IMG_4601 by Ssscott.vb, on Flickr
- Cole Grover
- Posts: 746
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 10:06 am
- Location: Montana
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Nice set of photos! Agamids always catch my eye in Aussie posts. That fruiting Ficus is pretty cool, too. Do many of the streams hold populations of Rainbow Fish or Blue-eyes, or are they restricted to the larger bodies of water? I've always been fascinated by that group.
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Awesome post. Looks like some good times!
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Thanks guys. Cole, there were both rainbow fish (I assume M. s. splendida but am not sure) and blue-eyes swimming around in the creeks. It was lovely to see the male blue-eyes displaying in a few inches of crystal clear water. There were also plenty of introduced cichlids, mostly tilapia - the scourge of Aussie tropical watercourses.
- Hans Breuer (twoton)
- Posts: 3230
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 3:19 am
- Location: Kuching, Sarawak (Borneo)
- Contact:
- Cole Grover
- Posts: 746
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 10:06 am
- Location: Montana
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Thanks for the reply! Pretty cool clade, the Melanotaenioidei. They seem to have taken over the role of Cypriniformes and Cyprinodontifomes over there. I assume the Tilapia were brought in as food/game?
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Cole, the Tilapia were introduced via the aquarium trade. There are a bunch of cichlids in Australia that have been released after outgrowing their owner's interests and/or fishtank which have then proliferated in natural waterways. Tilapia are a particular threat to biodiversity here.
- walk-about
- Posts: 567
- Joined: June 14th, 2010, 12:04 pm
- Location: 'God's Country' aka western KY
- Contact:
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
I did not know bandy-bandys defended is such a manner. Very interesting. Is there venom highly toxic? Awsome post!
RocK ON!
Dave
RocK ON!
Dave
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Dave, Bandy bandys don't have very toxic venom for humans (or at least they don't inject enough of it for anyone to suffer problems). Indeed they do have a rather funky defensive display, it would be great to know why this display has evolved!
-
- Posts: 8025
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:12 am
- Location: Hesperia, California.
- Contact:
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Nice to know it's warm somewhere... Cool post... I really like the Black whip.. thx for posting... jim
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
This was an excellent post. It looks like you are having a great season up there.
Rainbowfish are beautiful and always interesting to see. It would be fun to try to photograph these with an underwater camera someday. Some of the species are so colourful and have ornate fins.
Regards,
David
Rainbowfish are beautiful and always interesting to see. It would be fun to try to photograph these with an underwater camera someday. Some of the species are so colourful and have ornate fins.
Regards,
David
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Thanks Jim and David. It's been great to get out in the field and actually have a camera even if it's only a 40mm lens. I actually took most of the photos above with my mobile phone because the real camera was back in the car One day I'll learn and carry the camera, and get a macro lens!!
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Thanks for posting this, a really interesting thread.
Enjoyed seeing the bandy-bandy, (Vermicella annulata), what a great name.
Enjoyed seeing the bandy-bandy, (Vermicella annulata), what a great name.
Re: 'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the for
Very nice. Carpet pythons are one of my favorites. I've never seen some of the lizards you displayed. Thanks.