herps from the Warrumbungles, NSW

[moloch05]

I visited the Warrumbungles several times in the last few years. This is a great place to see some of our dry country reptiles and it also is excellent for bushwalking. I think that the Grand High Tops walk is absolutely stunning with magnificent views of the cores of these old volcanos. This walk also passes next to the "Bread Knife", a spectacular 90m tall volcanic dyke. Most of the following photos of diurnal herps were taken along this trail.

There are nice campgrounds within the park as well as motel accommodation in the nearby town of Coonabarabran.

Here is the habitat:




... the "Bread Knife"







One of the snake highlights was this responsive Spotted Black Snake (Pseudechis guttatus):





Red-naped Snake (Furina diadema):



Curl Snake (Suta suta):





Dwyer's Snake (Parasuta dwyeri):





Bandy-bandys (Vermicella annulata), always a nice sight:



Nobbi Dragon (Amphibolurus nobbi). This male was very curious and it ran up to this stump right next to the trail for photos. I wish that the other lizards were so cooperative!



Jack Lizard (Amphibolurus muricatus), a male in breeding colours:



White's Skinks (Egernia whitii). These skinks are abundant along the Grand High Tops walk. They are quite variable in pattern. Some have plain backs, others have striped backs but most are spotted:








Black Rock Skink (Egernia saxatillis saxatilis). This race is restricted to the Warrumbungles and it is separated from other populations by many kilometers. In this day of taxonomic splitting, I wonder how long it will be until it is re-classified as a full species ... or maybe this has already occurred?

... this one still looked sleepy as it was warming itself in the early morning sun near the top of the GHT walk:






Cryptoblepharus sp. -- These tiny skinks were common on rocks near the top of the GHT walk. I read that the Cryptoblepharus skinks were recently split into many new species so I don't know what this one would be called now.



Copper-tailed Skink (Ctenotus taeniolatus):



Eastern Striped Skink (Ctenotus robustus):



Eastern Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus williamsi):





Ocellated Velvet Gecko (Oedura monilis). The soft, pastel colours of those from the Warrumbungles are very nice.





... tail wagging:



... this one was eating sap from an injured wattle:



Thick-tailed Gecko (Underwoodisaurus [Nephrurus] milli).
... regen'ed tail:




... original tail:



Eastern Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus), a species that varies in colour and pattern:







Gehyra variegata, often active even before dark. This one appears to have a sub-cutaneous parasite on its right flank.



Anomalopus leuckartii, a nocturnal skink. It has four legs but they are tiny.



Lerista punctatovittata. Ants were swarming on it but it ignored them. It was uninjured and crawling along the edge of the road.



The Warrumbungles are well worth a visit!


Regards,
David



keywords: field herping, field trip

[willia6]

awsome pics!

[cockney red]

Very special.
Cheers Lee.

[sarah_m]

The pictures are awsome! What time of year were they taken?

[MoreliaMatt]

excellent!!!! thanks for sharing!!!!

[moloch05]

Thanks for the comments.

Sarah,
I visited the Warrumbungles in November, January and February. I think that this next spring should be great for wild flowers after the area received heavy rain earlier this year. The extra water ought to help the reptile populations as well.

Regards,
David

[ryanharvey1993]

once again, awsome thread david. have you seen any marbled geckos yet? went there 5 years ago and saw a red bellied black and a spotted black, plus lots of skinks, dragons and geckos. its a nice place. once the herping section is up post all your threads again in there (if it does get put up) *hopefully*

[krusty]

looks like you had a great trip,love the spotted black snake pics it looks like he was run over by a truck...lol.

[moloch05]

Thanks, Ryan.

Yes, I hope that a field forum is added for those of us who are interested in the field herping. It would be much simpler to locate posts that might be useful when planning a trip.

Regards,
David

[moloch05]

Thanks, Krusty. The display by the Spotted Black Snake was incredible. It flattened the neck like this but then did not move.

Here are another couple of pics:






... another friendly Nobbi Dragon:



... a late-season, baby Thick-tailed Gecko



Regards,
David

[warren63]

Fantastic pics !!!!

[hozy6]

its good to see that some places there are an abudence of reptile activity in one place there some really nice shots by the way

[hazzard]

Great shots as usual moloch, keep them coming. Hopefully a dedicated section for this kind of quality will be here soon!

Cheers thanks for sharing!

[redbellybite]

love the defencive shot of the spotted black such a nice snake..........your pics are really good it only enhances the fact we need a wild forum on here that we can go to .....to enjoy the pics and the surroundings of the nature shot aswell SLATEY hope your still on the ball with that forum,,,,,,,,RBB

[CassM]

they're amazing!!