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| The mountain ranges of
southern Arizona, October 2021 |
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| First order of business was releasing this
diamond python (Morelia s. spilota) from
someone's yard. |
Andrew Melrose (Shire Snake Catchers) is a
licensed snake catcher and had a few snakes, including
this beautiful diamond for us to relocate with him. |
This beautiful eastern water skink (Eulamprus
quoyii) was fairly bold and let me get close for a
couple photos. |
Just hanging with Colin South, the generous host
of the trip, and an Oenpelli python (Nyctophilopython
oenpellensis), no biggie. |
The Oenpelli belonged to Andrew and he graciously
let me handle this amazing snake and check out his
amazing collection. |
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| We hit the highlands with the Rose brothers
(Andrew Melrose and Rob Ambrose) and found this tiger
snake (Notechis scutatus), which was in shed. |
Another water skink hanging out along the Creek
we herped along. |
Rob had located this beautiful Australian
highlands copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) soon
after arriving at the site. Not sure how he was able to
secure it. |
This copperhead was very calm and allowed us to
photograph and even handle him without much fuss. |
The highland copperhead is a beautiful snake and
they are also known as the superb snake, a more fitting
name. |
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| Rob was also able to flip this baby copperhead.
Such a tiny little snake! |
This yellow-bellied three-toed skink (Saiphos
equalis) is stunning when flipped on its back. |
Happy to see an eastern bluetongue skink (Tiliqua
s. scincoides), the first of many on this trip. |
The bandy-bandy (Vermicella annulata) is a
snake I have wanted to see for a while. This was the
only snake found on a slow night of herping. |
This snake has a very interesting defensive
display, and this individual was on full display. |
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| I am not sure which predator this defense display wards off. This species specializes in feeding on blind snakes. | Always great seeing the eastern water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii) like this big male hanging out in the Nurragingy Reserve. | These Murray River turtles (Emydura macquarii) were out basking on a fallen tree. | This blotched blue-tongue (Tiliqua nigrolutea) was one of my top targets for the trip. We were lucky to see three! | These lizards are so cool. For some reason, this one got defensive at the base of this tree and flashed that bright blue tongue. |
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| We saw a few large Cunninghams skinks (Egernia
cunninghami) that were shy, but luckily I had my
zoom lens to get these shots. |
The third blotchie of the day was this young animal found under A/C. |
AfAfter a
great time in NSW and giving a talk on knob-tailed
geckos at the HHS meeting, it was time to head to South
Australia! |
This eastern
bluetongue was found alongside a couple shinglebacks an
hour or two out of Adelaide, SA. |
This was the first of many shingleback skinks (Tiliqua
rugosa aspera) that we saw on the trip. |
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| This was one of my favorite shinglebacks of the trip. The SA golden morph was one I was really hoping to see! | The Edwards' slider (Lerista
edwardsae) is such a unique skink lacking front
legs, but having long back legs. |
Another shingleback
found within a few yards from another shingleback on a
dirt road heading into Telowie. |
South Australia is
shingleback heaven! |
Several Bynoe's geckos (Heteronotia binoei) were found under cover. We would see many of these on the trip. |
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| This juvenile inland
bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) was found under
cover. |
A young and feisty
shingleback skink. They are so cute when they are
little. |
This large
shingleback was hanging out at the base of a pole. These
lizards were everywhere. |
A southern rock
Dtella (Gehyra lazelli) with a regen tail was
found under a log. |
An eastern striped
skink (Ctenotus robustus) was a large and fast
skink |
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| Several Eyrean earless dragons (Tympanocryptis tetraporophora) were observed basking on fallen branches and rocks. They were quick to run for cover. | This shingleback ran for cover when he saw us coming up the trail. | It was very cool to see this tree skink (Egernia striolata) properly basking on a tree. These are such personable little lizards. | This shingleback was unable to get out of this pool. We gave him a hand and removed him from this trap. | He expressed his thanks with a big tongue display. You can see the back half was a bit water logged. I wonder how long he was trapped? |
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| This shingleback was spotted as we were leaving the trail. | This guy was not excited to be moved off the road to avoid getting flattened. Jordan had fun trying to get him to oblige. | We flipped this large and impressive centipede in the bottom of Alligator Gorge. | This juvenile saltbrush Morethia skink (Morethia adelaidensis) was found under a rock | The crew in Alligator Gorge, SA. Was great herping with these upstanding folks (even if Steve kept singing the Fraggle Rock theme song). |
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| This tree skink (Egernia striolata) belied his name by sitting on this rock outcrop. This one was pretty bold and let me get pretty close. | Such a beautiful area. South Australia did not disappoint in the scenery department! | An impressive centipede was found under a rock at the side of the trail. Wouldn't want to mess with this dude. | This lace monitor (Varanus varius) was waiting for us by the carpark of Alligator Gorge. This locality is about as far west as this species occurs. | Lace monitors are
impressive goanas! This one was not bothered by our
presence and allowed us to take pictures as it foraged
around us. |
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| Inland bearded dragons were a common site throughout the trip in South Australia. This one was hanging out in a tree over the road. | Yellow-foot rock
wallabys are a beautiful marsupial found in the Flinders
Ranges. They are quite inquisitive. |
We found this southern rock Dtella (Gehyra lazelli) crawling around on the rocks at night. Few reptiles were found on this night. | This beautiful male swift rock dragon (Ctenophorus modestus) was hanging out on the red rocks in the Flinders Ranges | The Flinders Ranges rock-skink (Liopholis personata) was a cool skink. They looked similar to the tree skinks but are in a different genus. Love the sunglasses! |
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| This tree skink was observed not far from the rock-skink. | What better sight than a shingleback grazing along the side of the trail. We watched this one walk across a hillside, stopping to eat certain plants. | Another shingleback
along the trail. Never got sick of seeing these lizards! |
This golden shingleback was hanging out with its mate. | The other half of the shingleback pair. |
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| We rescued this guy off the road and moved him well away. Inland bearded dragons are so cool. | We made it to the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges. A beautiful sight! | We moved this big
bruiser off the road as we entered the Gammons. |
Snakes were not out in abundance on this trip. This curl snake (Suta suta) was the first of two snakes we saw in our many miles through SA, | One of my favorite lifers, an Australian barking gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii). I have wanted to see this species, but missed seeing them on my previous trips. Jorden spotted this guy while road cruising. |
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| Such a beautiful
species of gecko. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see
their relatives, the knob-tailed geckos. |
A handsome and large
inland bearded that we moved off the road. |
The bird life,
including this brown goshawk, was incredible and I added
many lifers to my growing bird list. |
A terrible shot of a
very nice looking lizard, This is the red-barred dragon
(Ctenophorus vadnappa). |
Emus were a common
site in the Gammons. Doesn't get much closer to a
dinosaur than this these days. |
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| Another cool
SA-enemic agama species, the tawny dragon (Ctenophorus
decreasii) |
This was one of the
most beautiful birds I saw. This is the red-backed
kingfisher, a desert-adapted kingfisher species. |
This bearded dragon
was hanging out in the dead branches of a small tree. So
fun to see them away from their hammocks (lol). |
We went on an extensive night hike deep in the Gammons looking for Gammon Ranges carpet pythons. We saw lots of Bynoe's, but no carpets. | The eastern tree dtella (Gehyra versicolor) was another commonly observed gecko on this night hike. |
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| This ETD was nice looking! These were found in a rocky wash, as well as on the cliffs of the gorge. | These were quite variable. This one also had a regenerated tail. | One found on the cliffs of the gorge. | Can you believe we saw this shingleback. Haha. A nice one in the Gammons. | We took a trip a few hours north to try and see some woma pythons in this desolate area. We did end up seeing tracks of a large snake, but were not lucky to see any snakes up here. |
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| Another lifer, this time a tesselated gecko (Diplodactylus tessellatus) that was spotted by Jorden on the dirt road. | Another individual found. This shot shows off their interesting tail morphology. | Another TG. This one had a
regenerated tail. That was about all that was moving
on the road, At least we saw something! |
An echidna was sitting in the road as we drove the long dirt track back to Arkaroola Village. Always cool to see a monotreme! | A large Gould's monitor (Varanus gouldii) ran under the road, after crossing, to hide in this culvert. |
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| We were very happy to finally see another monitor lizard since the large lacie in Alligator Gorge. What a cool lizard! | This guy sent us off
from the Gammons with a wave of his dark blue tongue. |
This beautiful red
shingleback welcomed us to the Roxby Downs area after a
long drive on a rough dirt road. One of the most
beautiful skinks I have seen in the wild! |
This purple arid dtella (Gehyra purpurascens) was a cool find in the hollow of a dead tree. | We stopped by a cool
rock outcrop to look for herps and were very happy to
find a couple Gidgee skinks (Egernia stokesii)
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| After cruising along a road in suitable habitat, we saw the unmistakable shape of the main lizard target we were looking for; the iconic thorny devil (Moloch horridus)! | The population in South Australia represents the southeastern extent of their range. | They prefer sandy
habitat where they feed on just a few species of ant. |
The colors on this
lizard were incredible. This was the only individual we
saw during our search of the area. |
Another shingleback or two were found along the same road as the thorny devil. |
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| Finally, another
snake! We came up upon this large mulga (Pseudechis
australis) on the road right at sunset. |
We stopped by a tin site on the way back to Adelaide and turned up another couple of shinglebacks. | This juvenile Gould's
monitor was sitting on the side of the road posing
nicely. |
We hit a second tin spot and found another nice shingleback. | Another shingleback brought the total count for the trip up to 40 or so individuals. This animal was a fitting end to an amazing trip! |
| Herp
Species List (***Lifer): |
Austrelaps ramsayi*** Ctenophorus decreasii*** Ctenophorus modestus*** Ctenophorus vadnappa*** Ctenotus robustus*** Diplodactylus tessellatus*** Egernia cunninghami Egernia stokesii*** Egernia striolata*** Emydura macquarii Eulamprus quoyii Gehyra lazelli*** |
Gehyra purpurascens Gehyra versicolor*** Heteronotia binoei Intellagama lesueurii Lerista edwardsae*** Liopholis personata*** Moloch horridus Morethia adelaidensis*** Morethia bolengeri*** Notechis scutatus*** Pogona vitticeps Pseudechis australis |
Saiphos equalis*** Suta suta Tiliqua nigrolutea*** Tiliqua rugosa aspera*** Tiliqua s. scincoides Tympanocryptis tetraporophora*** Underwoodisaurus milii*** Varanus gouldii Varanus varius Vermicella annulata*** |