Herping in the Kimberley

**$NaKe PiMp** · 10-Jul-12, 11:51 PM

wow i can see why your so happy about Varanus glauerti.
What an amazing monitor.

**SteveNT** · 11-Jul-12, 12:10 AM

Great suff mate. Those fire tailed skinks are quite common in sandstone country right across the top end. But only for those who can sit still and wait. The varanus rocks (I reckon there are still a few to come from Arnhem Land and the bottom of the Gulf). Thanks GP.

**mad_at_arms** · 11-Jul-12, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by GeckPhotographer

Would've topped it off if there were a few more geckos, but there's always next time.

*sighs*

Nice shots as always.

**GeckPhotographer** · 11-Jul-12, 09:23 AM

I promised more pics and you get more pictures (though haven't got the centipedes up yet)

A freshwater crocodile, we found lots of these doing our croc surveys at night where we went slowly along the rivers in a boat counting croc eye shine and estimating size.

Crocodylus johnstoni by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Crocodylus johnstoni by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Now some of our amphibian friends

The most common frog in El Questro

Crinia bilingua by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Crinia bilingua by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

The Upes were fairly common too, and while some of the lithomoda were easy to ID I have a headache left over from trying to determine whether some were lithomoda or borealis or even any trachyderma...

Uperoleia lithomoda by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

This frog occurs more or less in my back yard, yet apparently I had to go all the way to the Kimberley to take photos of one...

Platyplectrum ornatum by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Not as colourful as their eastern counterparts but these frogs are still really cool, and if you have a chance to handle them in the wild it becomes glaringly obvious why they are called melanoscaphus.

Notaden melanoscaphus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Notaden melanoscaphus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

I didn't really get good pictures of this species, but I figure I might be best off waiting to get pictures of one calling anyway.

Litoria rothi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

While I have seen them before in plenty of numbers these guys were still my favourite frog for the trip. I just can't get over their awesome colours, jumping on water and huddling together in giant masses on rocks. If it weren't for daviesae, and subglandulosa these could almost work their way into my favourite tree frog spot.

Litoria meiriana by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A frog ubiquitous with the arid zone and the top end I try and photograph these whenever the chance presents itself.

Litoria rubella by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Litoria rubella by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Go to a rockhole in the Eastern Kimberley (and much of the top end) and you look correctly, day or night these guys are almost always around. We found heaps of them on the trip but they are nice frogs no less for their commonness.

Litoria coplandi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

And a pretty dodgy shot of a frog that I found surprisingly hard to find, seeing as they were on every pandanus in Kakadu when I visited the low density here was surprising.

Litoria bicolor by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A nice frog that unfortunately I was only able to get one quick photo of.

Limnodynastes convexiusculus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

And because I like them so much, lets finish with a Gecko! These guys look much prettier in real life, even if no comparison to the Katherine form.

Strophurus ciliaris by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Strophurus ciliaris by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

More shots still to come, sorry about taking so long to upload them.

Thanks heaps for all the compliments, I really appreciate them.
-Stephen

**dickyknee** · 11-Jul-12, 09:30 AM

Great set of pics Stephen , looks like a good trip .

**Fang101** · 11-Jul-12, 08:09 PM

Brilliant photos Stephen and what a great time you must have had in WA, love the Glauerti

.

**GeckPhotographer** · 11-Jul-12, 08:34 PM

Some more photos, still got another dozen or so after these ones to come.

This was either Gehyra koira or Gehyra australis, I was favouring G.australis but wasn't sure enough to call it.

Gehyra sp. by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Gehyra sp. by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

This one actually was pretty obviously Gehyra koira.

Gehyra koira by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Gehyra koira by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

And a Gehyra nana to finish off the geckos for the trip.

Gehyra nana by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Gehyra nana by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

The Sand Swimming Skinks were pretty common around the place.

Lerista borealis by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

We got a few of these in buckets and between this and my 1 diadema I have seen they are quickly becoming a favourite genus.

Furina ornata by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Furina ornata by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

The first reptile I saw on the trip was this little skink that wondered right into our tents foraging, we got a number more in pit traps as well.

Eremiascincus isolepis by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Eremiascincus isolepis by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

These Cryptoblepharus ruber and their metallicus counterpart were on almost every dead tree and most rocks at that, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of metallicus (in fact I'm only 95% sure this is ruber not metallicus)

Cryptoblepharus ruber by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr
On the rocks in some gorges were another much faster Cryptoblepharus

Cryptoblepharus juno by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr
My experience with these was that you would take the picture, the flash would go off and scare them and they would already have moved before the picture itself was taken.... E.g.

Run Away by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

And another skink from the pit traps, unfortunately not in breeding colours.

Carlia tricantha by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Carlia tricantha by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Hope you enjoyed this lot, hopefully will get all the rest up within the next couple days.

**vicherps** · 11-Jul-12, 09:22 PM

Stephen the first Gehyra sp looks like a Gehyra australis. Gehyra koira (you would have seen Gehyra k.koira) usually seem to be more heavily patterned than Gehyra australis. From what I can remember I think australis sp has fewer midbody and interorbital scales but you would have to have to examine carefullybbut you would be wasting precious time with one species instead of looking for other herpetofauna on your survey.

**jordanmulder** · 11-Jul-12, 11:53 PM

Already know what I think! Great work stephen and awesome shots!

**SamNabz** · 12-Jul-12, 09:44 AM

Nice shots Steve, looks like you had a great trip mate. That glauerti is absolutely stunning - wow!

P.S we need more gecko pics!!

**GeckPhotographer** · 14-Jul-12, 09:51 AM

A few more pictures.

One of the best looking Ctenotus skinks I have ever seen.

Ctenotus pantherinus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Ctenotus pantherinus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

And another more plain looking Ctenotus.

Ctenotus inornatus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Ctenotus inornatus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

These dragons were on almost every tree in Kununurra itself but once we got into their natural bushy habitat they became very scarce.

Amphibolurus gilberti by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Amphibolurus gilberti by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

These guys I haven't yet put the effort into trying to ID anyone pretty knowledgeable in Diporiphora of the area I'd love to hear your opinions.
I thought this was D.magna but the red flush of the tail base made me think twice, so not sure now.

Diporiphora sp. ind. 2._019 by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

To me this looked fairly similar to D.albilabris which I was familiar with from the NT.

Diporiphora sp. in. 1. _008 by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Then I caught this guy which looked similar to the last guy but not so much like the D.albilabris I was used too.

Diporiphora sp. ind. 3. _010 by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

And here's some more pictures of that last one.

Diporiphora sp. ind. 3. _020 by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Diporiphora sp. ind. 3. _025 by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Diporiphora sp. ind. 3. _029 by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

**vicherps** · 14-Jul-12, 10:34 AM

First dragon looks like a Diporiphora bennettii

**GeckPhotographer** · 14-Jul-12, 11:36 AM

True it does, but it also looks a lot like Diporiphora magna which is why I asked for someone that actually knows Diporiphora in the North to comment.

Ok so a couple more frogs and some scenery and that's the last of them.

Hope you enjoyed.

Litoria wotjulumensis by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Litoria inermis by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Litoria inermis by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

The car we traveled around in for the trip, this thing has taken one hell of a beating throughout its use.

The Toady by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Saddle Back Lookout El Questro by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr