Part V: Brisbane area
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After returning from Darwin, I was
able to head up to Snake Ranch to see John Weigels
collection. Cindy and Kevin were kind enough to show
me around the collection and also into the surrounding
area for some herping. It was a bit cold for reptile
activity, but we saw a few frogs, including the nicest
green frog (Litoria caerula) I have ever seen. We also
saw a tawny frogmouth on the night drive, which is a
very interesting and cool bird.
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The following day, we did a bit of herping
around the property, which turned up my first wild
bluetongue (Tiliqua
scincoides scincoides) and a nice eastern
snake-neck turtle (Chelodina
longicollis), which were high on my wishlist
for species to see. We waded through a muddy puddle
that was about ankle deep moving our hands from side
to side under water to find the turtle. Eventually I
saw a ripple of a movement underwater, and reached for
it to catch the snakeneck. It was a great experience!
We also found an eastern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens)
under some AC, which was fairly well behaved for a
photo.
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My good friends in Ipswitch heard about my
difficulties with our swindling host in Darwin and
wanted to have my trip end on a good note, so they
flew me up to their area for some herping and some
visits to local collections. They were the most
gracious hosts and their generosity and hospitality
was unparalleled. They are amazing people! The herping
was a bit slow due to the cold weather, but the
company made it all worthwhile. We found a very nice
robust velvet gecko (Oedura robusta), which was an
impressive species. It lived on the side of Troy's
house. John also brought over a white crowned snake (Cacophis harriettae), which
didn't technically count as herping, but it was a
chance to see a new species.
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We went herping with Scott up some local mountain
ranges in the hopes of seeing some interesting snakes
and leaftail geckos, but the cooler weather resulted
in not much reptile activity, but some cool frogs were
found.
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We
did some herping at a local spot that had a ton of
artificial cover (AC) in some cattle fields.
We turned up several red-bellied black snakes as well
as some other cool species, including a yellow-faced
whip snake, a blind snake, a bearded dragon, a skink,
and a legless lizard.
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Home
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More soon...
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