moloch05
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- Aug 26, 2006
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My wife, younger daughter and I went on a walk today in Royal National Park. This was a beautiful autumn's day with temperatures in the mid-20s, clear skies and a light breeze. The summer humidity was gone so the walking conditions were ideal. We followed the Coast Track from Garie Beach to the Wattamolla area and then back again. I took a number of photos along the way and have included some of these in this report. I did not find anything unusual but did see numerous lizards including many young of the year. The coastal cliffs along this track are always a spectacular sight.
... Garie Beach
... views along the Coastal Track
... the quiet cove where we had our picnic lunch
As usual, Copper-tailed Skinks (Ctenotus taeniolatus) were abundant. I saw a few adults with plain-coloured tails:
... others had copper-tails
White's Skinks (Egernia whitii) were common wherever there were outcrops of sandstone in the heath. Here is an adult:
... It was quite warm around noon and many of the lizards had moved into areas with filtered light like this little juvenile
I saw several Cunningham's Skinks (Egernia cunninghami). These in Royal are quite dark in colouration when compared with those from the Blue Mountains. This lizard had a home with a great view:
... another
... and a better pic from a trip to this area about a year ago:
I only saw a single Eastern Water Skink (Eulamprus quoyii) today.
Jacky Lizards (Amphibolurus muricatus) were often seen along the track. I only saw a single adult but many young like this one:
Regards,
David
... Garie Beach
![CoastWalk7.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/a4c/a4c4187f4062e20e91bdeb29b8ad6f83.jpg)
![CoastWalk8.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/59c/59cdf857e9e7a0fc2c3eee34924c6e51.jpg)
![GarieBeach1.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/1e5/1e5d15841d4bcf35344e901795971314.jpg)
![GarieBeach2.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/bca/bcaddc3c4e6f43aec2f588e79952eb4d.jpg)
... views along the Coastal Track
![CoastWalk9.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/0c4/0c434654e98187f78f864a970fe3e3df.jpg)
![CoastWalk5EagleHawk.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/530/530ece3846c1c76a07f0b7065cd6b10c.jpg)
![CoastWalk1.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/3f8/3f8b7c8d29f9c6f7f129b53736978aae.jpg)
![CoastWalk4.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/b99/b9945a20cfcc101fc2323e810a3ffb41.jpg)
... the quiet cove where we had our picnic lunch
![CoastWalk2.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/2c6/2c6ad7ffb2862df5018d9b50c129e6a2.jpg)
![CoastWalk3.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/56f/56f5534f7c14d035679500d715ba994a.jpg)
As usual, Copper-tailed Skinks (Ctenotus taeniolatus) were abundant. I saw a few adults with plain-coloured tails:
![CopperTailedSkink1.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/1cb/1cb0a63d223061f85b85d2567a4a74bc.jpg)
![CopperTailedSkink2.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/ee5/ee5818aebd1ce54a7fbd2bcaf36a9e22.jpg)
... others had copper-tails
![CopperTailedSkink3.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/6a4/6a4aa202a8c5e2c388056b1a27341a08.jpg)
![CopperTailedSkink4a.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/404/404e6a88f1e7be39c1ffa73809885d19.jpg)
White's Skinks (Egernia whitii) were common wherever there were outcrops of sandstone in the heath. Here is an adult:
![WhitesSkink1.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/ceb/ceb2e15c80e7749dc561f588993c6fa6.jpg)
... It was quite warm around noon and many of the lizards had moved into areas with filtered light like this little juvenile
![WhitesSkink2.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/a84/a84e705d47ad23d1ed4c4d3523f1390c.jpg)
I saw several Cunningham's Skinks (Egernia cunninghami). These in Royal are quite dark in colouration when compared with those from the Blue Mountains. This lizard had a home with a great view:
![CunninghamsSkink2.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/e19/e191e33c43e33751d15ee7524eddf70e.jpg)
... another
![CunninghamsSkink1.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/4e7/4e7d97707856be7255652599ed278b41.jpg)
... and a better pic from a trip to this area about a year ago:
![cunninghams4.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/e0e/e0ead74b0291bd6c21a619d41056b07c.jpg)
I only saw a single Eastern Water Skink (Eulamprus quoyii) today.
![EasternWaterSkink1.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/3b8/3b83071dbd8b0f7006889bea99128b9a.jpg)
Jacky Lizards (Amphibolurus muricatus) were often seen along the track. I only saw a single adult but many young like this one:
![JackyLizard3.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/6e0/6e0e87134c2abcd56bcfb4bbc215f620.jpg)
![JackyLizard2.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/7bc/7bc412c9e56c0f29e9cd651658ffd246.jpg)
Regards,
David