moloch05
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As I mentioned in my previous post, my wife and I spent 10 days in Brisbane in January. Most days were wet but there was a bit of sun on one weekend. We decided to take advantage of it and visit the Lamington Plateau with one trip to the Binna Burra area and one trip to the O'Reilly's area. Binna Burra is a little closer to the coast and the forest in this area is taller and I think more spectacular than that near O'Reilly's. The subtropical forest on the plateau is some of the the best that I have seen anywhere in Australia.
It is hard to believe that this beautiful area is only about an hour's drive from the high-rise of the Gold Coast.
... a view back to the Gold Coast from the road to Binna Burra.
... further along, the plateau comes into view:
My wife and I followed a few tracks including one to Coomera Falls. Here are some shots of the habitat. Trees with massive buttressed roots were numerous along with ferns and palms.
We saw a few strangler figs like this one. These trees would be a good place to see leaf-tailed geckos at night.
After about a 6km walk along the muddy trails, we reached the falls. The last time that we saw this spot was on our honeymoon 25 years ago.
I think that the most spectacular animal on this walk was not a herp but instead, this gorgeous Lamington Spiny Crayfish (Euastacus sulcatus). The trails were wet and this crayfish was right out in the open. We met a couple of walkers who had seen an entirely blue crayfish as well but I liked the combination of colours on this animal.
Land Mullets (Egernia major) were common in the hills. These are the biggest skinks in the world and they really are enormous. Most that I have seen previously were shy but these were incredibly tame. They ignored my wife and I as we walked along the trail.
I watched one eat a white fungus. A chunk of the fungus can be seen in its mouth:
Shade Skinks (Saproscincus sp.) were common. As their name implies, they were always seen in complete shade. They often were perched on leaves or branches of small shrubs. Several species of Saproscincus are found in this area and they are all look quite similar. I am not certain of the species. On another site, one of the participants suggested that the first looks most like a S. challengeri and the second, possibly a S. rosei.
The only snake encountered was this Marsh Snake (Hemiaspis signata).
Murray's Skinks (Eulamprus murrayi) were common along the trail. They water skinks usually "basked" in complete shade on wet, mossy logs. They are obviously adapted to the cool and moist conditions that are typical on the plateau.
This Brush Turkey seemed to be enjoying a bit of sun:
... a large annelid worm that must have been flooded out onto the trail.
... a "pill" millipede on the trail.
... a colourful fungus. When mature, they formed a lemon-yellow cap.
can anyone help me with the family of this flower?
The drive to O'Reilly's passed through habitats like this with many Hoop Pines.
Here is a view of the forest near O'Reilly's.
Land Mullets were again a frequent sight in open areas, particularly around the O'Reilly's Guest House.
Once again, we saw many Murray's Skinks. Often, only their head would protrude from a hole in a log. This one was "basking" on top of a wet rock.
We also saw a few Tryon's Skinks (Eulamprus tryoni). These skinks are similar to Murray's Skinks but are endemic to the Lamington Plateau.
One surprise in the rain was this Southern Angle-headed Dragon (Hypsilurus spinipes). It stood near the edge of the trail and held a huge native cockroach in its mouth. While we watched it, a group of 10 others passed by and not one person spotted the dragon. I moved next to it so that no one would accidentally step on the lizard. It was nicely marked but was not nearly as colourful as its northern cousin, the Boyd's Forest Dragon (H. boydii).
... an incredible fungus
The Lamington Plateau is home to one of the most stunning birds in Australia, the Regent Bowerbird. Here is a male. It is a spectacular sight in flight with its gold wings.
This is a female. She surprised a tourist by suddenly dropping to a table and grabbing a chunk of their sandwich even though they were holding it at the time.
As usual, there were massive numbers of Crimson Rosellas and King Parrots at the parrot feeding deck near the O'Reilly's Guest House.
Crimson Rosella
Regards,
David
It is hard to believe that this beautiful area is only about an hour's drive from the high-rise of the Gold Coast.
... a view back to the Gold Coast from the road to Binna Burra.
... further along, the plateau comes into view:
My wife and I followed a few tracks including one to Coomera Falls. Here are some shots of the habitat. Trees with massive buttressed roots were numerous along with ferns and palms.
We saw a few strangler figs like this one. These trees would be a good place to see leaf-tailed geckos at night.
After about a 6km walk along the muddy trails, we reached the falls. The last time that we saw this spot was on our honeymoon 25 years ago.
I think that the most spectacular animal on this walk was not a herp but instead, this gorgeous Lamington Spiny Crayfish (Euastacus sulcatus). The trails were wet and this crayfish was right out in the open. We met a couple of walkers who had seen an entirely blue crayfish as well but I liked the combination of colours on this animal.
Land Mullets (Egernia major) were common in the hills. These are the biggest skinks in the world and they really are enormous. Most that I have seen previously were shy but these were incredibly tame. They ignored my wife and I as we walked along the trail.
I watched one eat a white fungus. A chunk of the fungus can be seen in its mouth:
Shade Skinks (Saproscincus sp.) were common. As their name implies, they were always seen in complete shade. They often were perched on leaves or branches of small shrubs. Several species of Saproscincus are found in this area and they are all look quite similar. I am not certain of the species. On another site, one of the participants suggested that the first looks most like a S. challengeri and the second, possibly a S. rosei.
The only snake encountered was this Marsh Snake (Hemiaspis signata).
Murray's Skinks (Eulamprus murrayi) were common along the trail. They water skinks usually "basked" in complete shade on wet, mossy logs. They are obviously adapted to the cool and moist conditions that are typical on the plateau.
This Brush Turkey seemed to be enjoying a bit of sun:
... a large annelid worm that must have been flooded out onto the trail.
... a "pill" millipede on the trail.
... a colourful fungus. When mature, they formed a lemon-yellow cap.
can anyone help me with the family of this flower?
The drive to O'Reilly's passed through habitats like this with many Hoop Pines.
Here is a view of the forest near O'Reilly's.
Land Mullets were again a frequent sight in open areas, particularly around the O'Reilly's Guest House.
Once again, we saw many Murray's Skinks. Often, only their head would protrude from a hole in a log. This one was "basking" on top of a wet rock.
We also saw a few Tryon's Skinks (Eulamprus tryoni). These skinks are similar to Murray's Skinks but are endemic to the Lamington Plateau.
One surprise in the rain was this Southern Angle-headed Dragon (Hypsilurus spinipes). It stood near the edge of the trail and held a huge native cockroach in its mouth. While we watched it, a group of 10 others passed by and not one person spotted the dragon. I moved next to it so that no one would accidentally step on the lizard. It was nicely marked but was not nearly as colourful as its northern cousin, the Boyd's Forest Dragon (H. boydii).
... an incredible fungus
The Lamington Plateau is home to one of the most stunning birds in Australia, the Regent Bowerbird. Here is a male. It is a spectacular sight in flight with its gold wings.
This is a female. She surprised a tourist by suddenly dropping to a table and grabbing a chunk of their sandwich even though they were holding it at the time.
As usual, there were massive numbers of Crimson Rosellas and King Parrots at the parrot feeding deck near the O'Reilly's Guest House.
Crimson Rosella
Regards,
David
