Maleny so Far...

[Herpo]

God I love this place,
The people are so friendly, and it is just a beautiful place overall. Visiting the market, we bought some delicious homemade jams and relishes and some wood burnt art from a very talented elderly woman.

But, I wanted herps, and so far, I have a few, but no photos. I was greeted by an inquisitive cane toad last night, and on a rainforest walk today, I saw (or rather glimpsed) a skink, unidentified, before being graced with the presence of a handsome (or pretty) juvenile eastern water dragon. I have pics of him, but will only post when I get back.

Absolutely love Maleny, wonderful corner of the world!

 

[BredliFreak]

Sounds great! Good luck herping! I'm surprised you haven't witnessed the Asian (house gecko) invasion at the Sunshine Coast!

Just curious, did the skink look Lampropholis-ey, or more Carlia-ish or a bit more like a eulamprus species. Or something totally different?

 

[pythoninfinite]

Yes, Maleny certainly has a bit of magic about it. I go there in December every year or two for a banjo & bluegrass conference - next one in the first week of December 2016... can't wait! Should be heaps of pythons if you can get out on warm nights, but the moon is a bit full at the moment - another week or so and it should be better.

Jamie

 

[Herpo]

I haven't seen any as of yet, but our friends have told us they do get them in there yard regularly. At a Christmas tree festival, a daring green tree snake decided to hang out in the trees.
[MENTION=41799]BredliFreak[/MENTION], I have since seen the skink again in the town, and it appears to be a white lined skink.

 

[BredliFreak]

Good luck finding the carpets, at the south coast diamonds are very rare and in 12 years I've been coming down there I've only seen 3. They are extinct in the ACT, which sucks. Could you give me a scientific name for the skink? I searched arod.com .au and I couldn't find "white lined skink". Does it look like Ctenotus robustus?

 

[Herpo]

I've since seen another close up, and it turns out to be an E​​​astern Three-LinedSkink (Bassiana duperreyi). I've seen another species in the rainforest walk that resembled a whites skink, but I don't think they are found up here. It was around 10-12cm long with a metallic red back when in sunlight. Any ideas? I'll post the one bad photo of it I have when I get home.

We've also seen some wonderful birlife here. Some wonderful rufous fantails (Rhipidura rufifrons) pranced around the place, and a pair of tawny frogmouth's were huddled together in a tree. We also heard, but failed to see, a whipbird and a catbird. And the local butcherbird watches you eat in the mornings and arvos, bold and completely unafraid.

 

[Blackdog]

G'day Herpo, you're right about Maleny (top spot) as is the rest of the Sunny Coast Hinterland.
The first skink is likely to be a nicely coloured Lampropholis delicata as Acritoscincus are not found up here. The most commonly encountered rainforest skink around the Maleny district is the Murray's Skink
(Karma murrayi) but Rose Skinks (Saproscincus rosei) are common in some areas as well and are closer to the mark as far as the size you mentioned.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday mate.

 

[Ryan-James]

If you get a chance check out Bellthorpe forest, heaps of pythons, southern forest dragons, land mullet, red bellies and alot of frog species etc.
Perfect time of the year to sneak along creeks at night with camera and torch.

 

[Herpo]

G'day Herpo, you're right about Maleny (top spot) as is the rest of the Sunny Coast Hinterland.
The first skink is likely to be a nicely coloured Lampropholis delicata as Acritoscincus are not found up here. The most commonly encountered rainforest skink around the Maleny district is the Murray's Skink
(Karma murrayi) but Rose Skinks (Saproscincus rosei) are common in some areas as well and are closer to the mark as far as the size you mentioned.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday mate.

Thank you Blackdog, it appears the skink I hadn't ID'd was the Murrays Skink, so thanks for that.

@ryanjames, while I would love to go their, I am only 13, so unless my parents are up to it, I don't think I'll be able to visit, but thanks for the suggestion.

Kind regards, Herpo

 

[GBWhite]

Good luck finding the carpets, at the south coast diamonds are very rare and in 12 years I've been coming down there I've only seen 3. They are extinct in the ACT, which sucks. Could you give me a scientific name for the skink? I searched arod.com .au and I couldn't find "white lined skink". Does it look like Ctenotus robustus?

They are not rare on the south coast my friend. Like any species, it's just a matter of knowing where to look during different the different seasons. Something that only comes through field experience and leaning to understand the ecology.

Cheers,

George.

 

[BredliFreak]

Thanks George,

About everywhere I look I don't get much luck, maybe this summer it will change but the two times I've found them has been nowhere near WSF/Temperate RF. They have been around my farm house (which is surrounded by paddocks, but has a forest within a few hundred m of it) and at a beach (a bit closer to some DSF/WSF). I'll keep looking

Bredli

 

[Herpo]

Just got called out because my brother got spooked by a snake. Well, I went out to see, and guess what? Not a snake...but a legless lizard! I only got a glimpse, so I don't know what he (or she) was, but I swear I saw green.

 

[JackH]

yeah man, my grandmother lives in maleny and i visit her often. she is always sending me photos of huge carpets traipsing through her garden.
also has a huge lace monitor who chills on her porch!!
(main reason i visit)

 

[Herpo]

Lol, still no pics from me. Stay tuned, I'll get to it!

- - - Updated - - -

So I finally got around to it! Pics of the dragon! Not the best quality, but I thought he looked pretty damn good.

Cheers,
Herpo