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moloch05

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One morning while staying at Mission Beach, QLD, I got up at 3:30 am and drove south for three hours to Mt. Elliot in Bowling Green National Park. This park is situated a little to the south of Townsville. I wanted to arrive soon after sunrise since lizards at that time of the day tend to bask and are more easily photographed. I have visited Mt. Elliot a few times before and know it to be a herp-rich locality. Someday, I want to spend a night here and go on the 17km walk up the mountain to try and find the spectacular endemic leaf-tailed gecko, Phyllurus amnicola.

Here are a few habitat shots from the areas where I searched for reptiles.

The Alligator River. There are 3 species of turtles here and many native fish. Lizards were abundant on rocks along the river.
habitat2.jpg


habitat1.jpg


habitat5.jpg



The surrounding hills were covered with grass and Poplar Gums.
habitat7.jpg



Some of the tropical deciduous trees were leafless but were flowering:
habitat4.jpg


habitat6.jpg



Skinks were the abundant family of lizards on the rocks. The first species that I encontered were these nicely marked Saxicoline Sun Skinks (Lampropholis mirabilis). These pretty little skinks have a tiny distribution that is centered within Bowling Green National Park.
LampropholisMirabiis1b.jpg


LampropholisMirabiis1.jpg


LampropholisMirabiis2.jpg


LampropholisMirabiis3.jpg



I saw several Carlia folorium early in the morning before it became hot. These little skinks mostly remain beneath the leaf litter but they would bask early in the morning.

Male in breeding colours:
Carlia2.jpg


Female:
Carlia1.jpg



I saw these beautiful Blue-throated Rainbow Skinks (Carlia rhomboidalis) along the river in the same habitat as C. folorium. I think that the males are beautifully patterned.
CarliaRhomboidalis1.jpg


CarliaRhomboidalis2a.jpg



Females were more sombrely marked. This species has a transparent disk in its lower eyelid, a feature that can be seen in this photo:
CarliaRhomboidalis4.jpg


CarliaRhomboidalis3.jpg



The dry hillsides supported several other rainbow skinks. The nicest were these beautiful male Lined Rainbow Skinks (Carlia jarnoldae)
CarliaJarnoldae1.jpg


CarliaJarnoldae2b.jpg


CarliaJarnoldae3.jpg




I think that the following skink is female Open-litter Rainbow Skink (Carlia pectoralis) although C. vivex is also a possibility.
CarliaPectoralis2.jpg



Robust Rainbow Skinks (Carlia schmeltzii) were also found in the dry woodlands.
CarliaSchmeltzi2.jpg


CarliaSchmeltzi1.jpg



I saw a few Copper-tailed Skinks (Ctenotus taeniolatus) in the dry grassland habitat. None of these lizards had the copper-tail colour like those in the Wollongong area.
CopperTailed1.jpg




Dragons here included these confusing Diporiphora. They have a gular fold so I think that they are Tommy Roundheads (D. australis) although Two-lined Dragons (D. bilineata) are also possible.
tommy1-1.jpg


tommy2-1.jpg


tommy4.jpg



Knobby Dragons (Amphibolurus nobbi) were also common.
knobby1-1.jpg


tommy2.jpg



One of the most interesting lizards was this young Black-headed Monitor (Varanus tristis) that watched me from a hollow log. I stayed with it for awhile but it would never fully emerge from the log.
VaranusTristis1.jpg



Unadorned Rock Wallabies were common around the picnic area shortly after sunrise.
UnadornedRockWallaby1.jpg


I saw a brown snake and an Yellow-faced Whipsnake in the dry country but both raced away before I could take a photo. The only amphibian seen was this Roth's Treefrog:
frog1.jpg




On the return trip to Mission Beach, I stopped for a couple of hours at Jourama Falls National Park, about a half-hour drive north from Townsville.
habitat1.jpg



Black-throated Rainbow Skink (Carlia rostralis): These beautiful skinks were the abundant Carlia in this area.
Males in their nuptial colours:
CarliaRostralis1aa.jpg


CarliaRostralis6.jpg


Their scales refract the light.
CarliaRostralis4.jpg



females are not as brightly coloured.
CarliaRostralis5.jpg



I also found a couple of these water skinks (Eulamprus sp.). I think that this would be either an E. tenuis or a E. brachysoma but I don't know distinguish between these two species in the field.
Eulamprus1.jpg
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I also saw a Collared Whipsnake in about the same place as where I saw one in Dec 07. Unfortunately, it disappeared before I could take a photo.


Regards,
David
 
Great pics Moloch,
Thanks for sharing,
Cheers
Adam
 
wow, u found all that in one day!

awesome pix, thanks for sharing!!
 
Great photos. What kind of camera are you using, and how close did you have to get to get those macro photos? Do you have a zoom lens?
I used to live in Townsville when I did my degree there. And we went out to Alligator Ck a few times, it's beautiful. I really thought you'd of seen at least one of the huge lacey's that hang out up at the picnic area (where you saw the wallaby). They just cruise around trying to take peoples lunch
 
top photos , do you go to M B very often my parents have lived ther for 30 yrs it is agreat place for discoveries . we wont be back til 2009 as mum flys south for cyclone season
 
borntob,

Yes, we visit Mission Beach every year or two. It was our favourite family destination when the kids were young. I love the area, but unfortunately, development is catching up with the area. There are so many new clearings and sub-divisions going in. We always stay at the Hideaway but it was quite noisy from 5:30am onwards as the tradesman headed off to their jobs.


Regards,
David
 
Iozza,

I now use a Canon 40D with a 90mm macro and a 12x250 zoom. I spent most of my time along the river so the Lace Monitors may have been present but I was not in the picnic area much at all. I would like to have seen them.


Regards,
David
 
the tristis is wicked I only seen the windorah type with the black head
 
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