Central Australia - Pt 1
During the spring/summer I have been up in Alice a few times for my field research, which I will talk about later. Having this great opportunity to spend a decent chunk of time in one of outback Australias best herping locations, I went pretty hard and here are the finds:
So first up I'll get the feathered reptiles out of the way!
Black kites characterised in flight by the forked tail
Australia's iconic wedge-tailed eagle often observed with road kill as in this case
Spinifex pidgeon, these comical little birds will often dash into vegetationa and amongst spinifex rather than taking flight
Major Mitchell's
Western Bowerbird, this was the resident camp bird that would raid my fruit and leave sloppy presents all over the place, yet never have the decency to hang around for a decent photo
Black fronted Dotterels were often found near permanent water
Pied Butcher bird
On the lighter nights the nocturnal birds of prey were abundant on the roads including tawny frogmouths, spotted and owlet night jars, boobook owls and barn owls like this one
Australasian Grebe
Red-backed Kingfisher
Black faced Cuckoo Shrike
One of my favourites, the Rainbow bee-eater
These fairy martins were common around Uluru, collecting mud from puddles on the walking path which they use to build their nests
Pacific heron
Little button quail were also numerous on the roads at night
Ringneck parrot
Brown falcon that let me nice and close for photos
White winged triller
This Yellow throated miner was part of a small very curious family begging for food
Dingoes were reasonably abundant both during the day and at night but often very wary of people
Central Australia is also home to some magnificent invertebrates:
And after saying that I'm pretty sure this "elephant beetle" species is introduced...
There are several species of colourful native cockroaches that I've often found associated with Triodia
Pie dish beetles are common inhabitants of leaf litter on which they feed
I've only known Tiger beetles from the margins of salt lakes where they burrow in the crust, so I was surprised to find one under a bin where I was staying. These ferocious predators are armed with massive mandibles, they're incredibly fast runners and will speed along until they run into an unfortunate prey item and clamp down.
I was also finding a few interesting grasshoppers on the roads at night.
Toad hoppers are huge fat grasshoppers that camouflage well in rocky habitat
Leopard grasshopper
Can't remember the name of this species but they were pretty funky looking with velvety fur
I tracked down this Gumleaf katydid by call. These katydids are a decent size and being predatory they have a nasty bite
I was lucky to stumble across this scenario at my field site, the parasitic wasp had already subdued the spider and was carting it away to be buried with an egg. The spider, while paralysed by the wasps sting, would then be eaten alive by the wasp larvae.
Unfortunately I wasn't around for any decent rain events so I missed out on some of the more seasonal burrowing frogs but I did get all the common species.
Neobatrachus sudelli found in the dunes south of Alice
Litoria gilleni were numerous in the rocky gorges
Litoria rubella, they often enjoyed the acoustics offered by the toilet where I stayed
Opisthodon spenceri, another common species that seemed to pop up everywhere
Amphibolurus longirostris were common in more woodland type habitat, often along drainage lines
During my first trip there was always a fire or two somewhere, one night we went looking for any critters that might flush out
The result was several Amphibolurus gilberti fleeing from the flames
The obligatory Pogona vitticeps, a nice orange, heavily gravid female
Ctenophorus caudicinctus was the resident rock specialist dragon in the MacDonald Ranges
Tympanocryptis centralis found in sparsely vegetated rocky areas, demonstrate amazing camouflage
Diporiphora winnecki found on a sand dune
Ctenophorus nuchalis
Ctenophorus rufescens - this was one of my main targets on the second trip and a highlight. I think between two of us we saw 5 individuals in what seemed like about 4 hours, but they were extremely flighty and difficult to get close to.
Ctenophorus isolepis another sprinter among the lizards dashing between spinifex tussocks on the dunes
Varanus acanthurus
Varanus tristis, this individual lived in the roof where I stayed, he was often betrayed by the sound of claws on corrugated iron
Varanus eremius, an awesome goanna but terrible posers, this one dashed after only one shot
Varanus gilleni
Varanus gouldii
And of course Varanus giganteus, I'm still yet to see a huge one but even the smaller ones I've seen just have something awesome about them, very unique from other monitors
More to come soon.
During the spring/summer I have been up in Alice a few times for my field research, which I will talk about later. Having this great opportunity to spend a decent chunk of time in one of outback Australias best herping locations, I went pretty hard and here are the finds:
So first up I'll get the feathered reptiles out of the way!
Black kites characterised in flight by the forked tail
Australia's iconic wedge-tailed eagle often observed with road kill as in this case
Spinifex pidgeon, these comical little birds will often dash into vegetationa and amongst spinifex rather than taking flight
Major Mitchell's
Western Bowerbird, this was the resident camp bird that would raid my fruit and leave sloppy presents all over the place, yet never have the decency to hang around for a decent photo
Black fronted Dotterels were often found near permanent water
Pied Butcher bird
On the lighter nights the nocturnal birds of prey were abundant on the roads including tawny frogmouths, spotted and owlet night jars, boobook owls and barn owls like this one
Australasian Grebe
Red-backed Kingfisher
Black faced Cuckoo Shrike
One of my favourites, the Rainbow bee-eater
These fairy martins were common around Uluru, collecting mud from puddles on the walking path which they use to build their nests
Pacific heron
Little button quail were also numerous on the roads at night
Ringneck parrot
Brown falcon that let me nice and close for photos
White winged triller
This Yellow throated miner was part of a small very curious family begging for food
Dingoes were reasonably abundant both during the day and at night but often very wary of people
Central Australia is also home to some magnificent invertebrates:
And after saying that I'm pretty sure this "elephant beetle" species is introduced...
There are several species of colourful native cockroaches that I've often found associated with Triodia
Pie dish beetles are common inhabitants of leaf litter on which they feed
I've only known Tiger beetles from the margins of salt lakes where they burrow in the crust, so I was surprised to find one under a bin where I was staying. These ferocious predators are armed with massive mandibles, they're incredibly fast runners and will speed along until they run into an unfortunate prey item and clamp down.
I was also finding a few interesting grasshoppers on the roads at night.
Toad hoppers are huge fat grasshoppers that camouflage well in rocky habitat
Leopard grasshopper
Can't remember the name of this species but they were pretty funky looking with velvety fur
I tracked down this Gumleaf katydid by call. These katydids are a decent size and being predatory they have a nasty bite
I was lucky to stumble across this scenario at my field site, the parasitic wasp had already subdued the spider and was carting it away to be buried with an egg. The spider, while paralysed by the wasps sting, would then be eaten alive by the wasp larvae.
Unfortunately I wasn't around for any decent rain events so I missed out on some of the more seasonal burrowing frogs but I did get all the common species.
Neobatrachus sudelli found in the dunes south of Alice
Litoria gilleni were numerous in the rocky gorges
Litoria rubella, they often enjoyed the acoustics offered by the toilet where I stayed
Opisthodon spenceri, another common species that seemed to pop up everywhere
Amphibolurus longirostris were common in more woodland type habitat, often along drainage lines
During my first trip there was always a fire or two somewhere, one night we went looking for any critters that might flush out
The result was several Amphibolurus gilberti fleeing from the flames
The obligatory Pogona vitticeps, a nice orange, heavily gravid female
Ctenophorus caudicinctus was the resident rock specialist dragon in the MacDonald Ranges
Tympanocryptis centralis found in sparsely vegetated rocky areas, demonstrate amazing camouflage
Diporiphora winnecki found on a sand dune
Ctenophorus nuchalis
Ctenophorus rufescens - this was one of my main targets on the second trip and a highlight. I think between two of us we saw 5 individuals in what seemed like about 4 hours, but they were extremely flighty and difficult to get close to.
Ctenophorus isolepis another sprinter among the lizards dashing between spinifex tussocks on the dunes
Varanus acanthurus
Varanus tristis, this individual lived in the roof where I stayed, he was often betrayed by the sound of claws on corrugated iron
Varanus eremius, an awesome goanna but terrible posers, this one dashed after only one shot
Varanus gilleni
Varanus gouldii
And of course Varanus giganteus, I'm still yet to see a huge one but even the smaller ones I've seen just have something awesome about them, very unique from other monitors
More to come soon.
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