A colleague and I recently got back from a herping trip through the Pilbara ranges. We were hoping to travel further north to the port headland area to try our luck for some Womas and Black headeds but unfortunately we were hit by the full force of mother nature. When it rains up there it seriously rains! On one day it rained for 13 hours straight, transforming the dry, sun scorched landscape to a series of lakes for as far as the eye could see. Due to the very real chance of being hit by a cyclone we decided to cut our losses and head home after four nights. Frustratingly we had some problems with the photography due to our lenses constantly fogging up on some nights due to the humidity. Anyway here's the pick of the bunch hope you enjoy!
Varanus panoptes Cue area
Caimanopes amphiboluroides we found several gravid females sunning themselves north of Paynes Find.
Ctenophorus nuchalis Mt Magnet area
Spinifex habitat near Hamersley gorge
Fruit Bats Pteropus alecto roosting in trees at the base of a gorge
fig tree near fern pool Karijini national park
Hamersley Gorge
Ctenophorus caudicinctus this species was abundant right throughout the ranges and rocky areas.
Amphibolurus longirostris
Antaresia stimsoni
Acanthophis wellsi these animals are truly impressive, this snake though was certainly not the most impressive example of A. wellsi we sighted. I personally like much darker bands in them and we found some that had perfectly black contrasting bands, however none of these were photographed due to camera issues.
furina ornata
Diplodactylus conspicillatus
Lucasium stenodactylum
Oedura marmorata interesting pilbara colour form.
Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus. Easily my favourite species in the genus. interestingly we found several males with re-gen tails. This species was very common on overcast nights especially when the humidity reached 80% or higher.
Strophurus wellingtonae
Strophurus jeanae
Ctenotus saxatilis
Carlia munda
Eremiascincus fasciolatus
Egernia formosa
Total species list:
Frogs:
Cyclorana maini
Litoria rubella
Geckoes:
Diplodactylus conspicillatus
Lucasium stenodactylum
Gehyra pilbara
Gehyra variegata
Heteronotia binoei
Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus
Oedura Marmorata
Rhynchoedura ornata
Strophurus jeanae
Strophurus wellingtonae
Skinks:
Carlia munda
Cryptoblepharus ustulatus
Ctenotus saxatilis
Egernia formosa
Eremiascincus fasciolatus
Dragons:
Amphibolurus longirostris
Caimanops amphiboluroides
Ctenophorus caudicinctus
Ctenophorus isolepis isolepis
Ctenophorus nuchalis
Pogona minor (minor/mitchelli)
Monitors:
Varanus gouldii
Varanus panoptes
Legless lizard:
Lialis burtonis
Snakes:
Acanthophis wellsi
Antaresia perthensis
Antaresia stimsoni
Furina ornata
Pseudechis australis
Pseudonaja mengdeni
Other:
Ardeotis australis
Pteropus alecto
Varanus panoptes Cue area
Caimanopes amphiboluroides we found several gravid females sunning themselves north of Paynes Find.
Ctenophorus nuchalis Mt Magnet area
Spinifex habitat near Hamersley gorge
Fruit Bats Pteropus alecto roosting in trees at the base of a gorge
fig tree near fern pool Karijini national park
Hamersley Gorge
Ctenophorus caudicinctus this species was abundant right throughout the ranges and rocky areas.
Amphibolurus longirostris
Antaresia stimsoni
Acanthophis wellsi these animals are truly impressive, this snake though was certainly not the most impressive example of A. wellsi we sighted. I personally like much darker bands in them and we found some that had perfectly black contrasting bands, however none of these were photographed due to camera issues.
furina ornata
Diplodactylus conspicillatus
Lucasium stenodactylum
Oedura marmorata interesting pilbara colour form.
Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus. Easily my favourite species in the genus. interestingly we found several males with re-gen tails. This species was very common on overcast nights especially when the humidity reached 80% or higher.
Strophurus wellingtonae
Strophurus jeanae
Ctenotus saxatilis
Carlia munda
Eremiascincus fasciolatus
Egernia formosa
Total species list:
Frogs:
Cyclorana maini
Litoria rubella
Geckoes:
Diplodactylus conspicillatus
Lucasium stenodactylum
Gehyra pilbara
Gehyra variegata
Heteronotia binoei
Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus
Oedura Marmorata
Rhynchoedura ornata
Strophurus jeanae
Strophurus wellingtonae
Skinks:
Carlia munda
Cryptoblepharus ustulatus
Ctenotus saxatilis
Egernia formosa
Eremiascincus fasciolatus
Dragons:
Amphibolurus longirostris
Caimanops amphiboluroides
Ctenophorus caudicinctus
Ctenophorus isolepis isolepis
Ctenophorus nuchalis
Pogona minor (minor/mitchelli)
Monitors:
Varanus gouldii
Varanus panoptes
Legless lizard:
Lialis burtonis
Snakes:
Acanthophis wellsi
Antaresia perthensis
Antaresia stimsoni
Furina ornata
Pseudechis australis
Pseudonaja mengdeni
Other:
Ardeotis australis
Pteropus alecto
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