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moloch05

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This is part 2 of the Exmouth area report. Once again, it is a combined report of animals that I found with my son in November, 2005, and with a friend in February, 2007.


We saw a number of Burton's Snake-lizards (Lialis burtonis) in November but none in February. All of those in the Exmouth area were heavily striped like this huge individual.
burtons1.jpg


burtons2.jpg



We only found a single live Delma nasuta and others that were dead on the road. This animal literally hurdled itself into the air to get off the road and then finally settled on the road shoulder. I don't think that I have ever seen anything behave like this before.
delma1.jpg


delma2.jpg




Fat-tailed Gecko (Diplodactylus conspicillatus) were the most common gecko, especially in the disturbed areas outside of the national park.
fat3.jpg


fat1.jpg


fat4.jpg



We saw several Diplodactylus mitchelli. These geckos varied considerably in pattern with some strongly marked and others pale. It is interesting but the second edition of "A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia" no longer shows D. mitchelli from North West Cape. I suppose that this was just an accidental omission.
Mitchells1.jpg


mitchells2.jpg




Northern Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus ciliaris aberrans) -- these geckos were the second most common species of gecko found in November but were scarce in February. This race has black and yellow spines on the tail. Spiny-tails were found in area where there were shrubs next to the road. We saw few outside of the national park where the habitat was more disturbed.
ciliaris1a.jpg


ciliaris2.jpg


ciliaris4.jpg


... strange, regenerated tail.
ciliaris3a.jpg




Western Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus strophurus) -- we only found two and both were on the February trip.
strophurus2.jpg




Prickly (Bynoe's) Gecko (Heteronotia binoei) -- only a few of these geckos were encountered at night.
gehyra1.jpg



Sand-plain Gecko (Lucasium stenodactylus) -- common in the same areas as Fat-tailed Gecko. Some were pale and others were more strongly marked. These are fast moving geckos and often vanished before I could stop the car and run back for photos.
sandplains5.jpg


sandplains1.jpg


sandplains4.jpg




Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus laevis occidentalis) -- common and variable in pattern. Some of these were pink/blue whereas others were brown and looked much more like the Pilbara race of this species. None of the knob-tails at Exmouth looked like the beautiful animals from Shark Bay. Several species of reptiles that are mostly found in the Pilbara have isolated populations at North West Cape. It seems to me that these knob-tails must have had some contact with or perhaps be a derivative of the Pilbara race of this species.
knobtailed1.jpg


knobtailed3.jpg


knobtailed5a.jpg


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knobtailed7.jpg


knobtailed8.jpg



Stimson's Python (Antaresia stimsoni[/]) -- common in November but only a single DOR juvenile found in February.
stimsons4.jpg


stimsonspython1.jpg


stimsons1.jpg


stimsons3.jpg


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Mulga Snake (Pseudechis australis) -- This large adult had been injured on the road. I thought that it was paralyzed and I laid on the road nearby for photos. I had a real shock when it turned and raced off the road.
Mulga1.jpg


mulga2.jpg



Northwestern Shovel-nosed Snake (Brachyurophis approximans) -- one seen on each trip.
northwestern1.jpg


brachyurophis1.jpg



Black-necked Whipsnake (Demansia calodera) -- unfortunately, only this single DOR was found.
whipsnake1a.jpg



Moon (Orange-naped) Snake (Furina ornata) -- twice seen on the November trip.
OrangeNaped1.jpg


orangeNaped2.jpg



Pilbara Death Adder (Acanthophis wellsi) -- Nick and I were very happy to find one of these on our 5th night drive at Cape Range. It was the only individual of this species that we found.
PilbaraDeath2.jpg


pilbaraDeath3.jpg



Flowers -- Cape Range was a dry place but there still were a few flowers to be seen:
flower1.jpg


...Feather-flower (Verticordia sp)
verticordia.jpg



Sturt's Desert Pea (Swainsona sp.)
sturtspea.jpg



Zebra Finch -- a common bird in the Cape Range NP
zebra.jpg



Regards,
David
 
Very nice david, like the mulga and the moon snake..Injuries on the mulga look superficial but you never know whats happening under the skin..poor thing
Great pics man
 
Very nice pics Moloch,
Thanks for posting them, always entertaining.
Cheers
Adam
 
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