moloch05
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The following are photos of my trip into the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and Resort. This privately operated reserve is located in some of South Australia's most scenic but inhospitable country. The reserve is situated at the northeastern end of the Flinder's Ranges. Access is via a 120km gravel road that turns east from the highway near Leigh Creek. The road is suitable for a conventional car as long as it has not rained, a rare event in this part of the country.
My primary reason for visiting Arkaroola was to try and find one of the most beautiful dragons that live in Australia, the Red-barred Dragon (Ctenophorus vadnappa). I unfortunately had car problems on the way into the reserve so I had to depart sooner than I had intended. It was essential to try and find a mechanic before the start of a 3-day holiday weekend. As a result, I failed to find the dragon and many of the other herps from this area.
I have to apologize but most of the following photos in this post are habitat shots with only a few herps at the end.
To reach Arkaroola, I drove east from Kimba and then turned north at Port Augusta. The road from Port Augusta soon passed the western slope of the Flinder's Ranges.
Red River Gums were numerous along creek beds:
Cypress Pine were frequent on rocky slopes:
Near the little mining town of Leigh Creek, I turned east along a gravel road towards Arkaroola. The road passed through some bleak habitat. This sign made me laugh since there was so little "flora" to see:
Further west, the road passed through the Vulkathunha Gammon Ranges National Park. There was water in some of the gorges and even water flowing across the road in a couple of places. I talked with the locals and this was apparantly the remnants of heavy rain that they received in November (5", most of their annual rainfall).
... An interesting sign... 86 species of reptiles on their checklist!:
The road emerged onto the edge of a plain that faced the incredible Lake Frome, one of several immense salt lakes of South Australia. This dry lake is about 100km in length and is barely visible on the horizon of the first pic. Once upon a time, there was a great deal of water in this part of Australia.
... gibber flats:
I climbed this hill with lots of cracks and crevices but did not see a single reptile. I suppose that this was not surprising since the rocks were hot to touch. The day had been about 40C.
... this is a view of the road as it disappeared into the distant hills of the Arkaroola Reserve:
... here is the headquarters of Arkaroola. During the breeding season, a gorgeous male Red-barred Dragon (Ctenophorus vadnappa) lives on a rock near the building but now I unfortunately could not find a single animal. Staff said that they have not seen any recently probably due to the high temperatures. This resort is privately operated and reminds me a little of a desert version of O'Rielly's Guest House at Lamington National Park, Qld. There were many overseas tourists ... mostly American and Japanese ... who went on guided 4x4 tours through the remote country.
My car was sick (failing fuel pump) so I had to leave early on Friday morning and limp back to Leigh Creek for repairs. These are a few shots of the Arkaroola area that I took on the return journey:
... part of the formation named "old woman sleeping" by the aborigines:
Due to my limited time at Arkaroola, I did not see or photograph many reptiles. The few that I did photograph included this Cryptoblepharus skink:
... and this new species to me, a Central Rock-Skink (Egernia margaratae):
... Central Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps) near Leigh Creek:
I also saw but did not photograph a Gould's Monitor (Varanus gouldii) and a Black-headed Monitor (V. tristis). The later raced out of a tree and into a hole before I had a chance to take out my camera.
Here is a link to photos of the Red-barred Dragon, my target species at Arkaroola. These remind me a little of Eastern Collared Lizards since they can be bright green with red bars during the breeding season:
http://www.yellowfoot.org/Reptiles.htm
Despite the dry coniditions, there were a few plants with flowers on the rocky slopes:
... I think a member of Malvaceae
... a mulla-mulla:
... others:
Budgerigars were common along the creek beds along with Zebra Finches:
Little Corellas:
I was lucky to make it back to Leigh Creek in time to find a mechanic and to have a fuel pump ordered for overnight delivery. The next morning, I had a look around the countryside while awaiting car repairs. I was so lucky not have to "enjoy" this view for several days over the long weekend. This was the view across the road from the cabin where I stayed:
In this habitat, I found one of Australia's smallest lizards, Menetia greyii:
Later, I saw this DOR Western Brown Snake (Pseudonaja nuchalis) near a dry creek bed south of Leigh Creek.
I hope to visit South Australia again next season and try for the many species of Ctenophorus dragons that I failed to find this year.
Regards,
David
My primary reason for visiting Arkaroola was to try and find one of the most beautiful dragons that live in Australia, the Red-barred Dragon (Ctenophorus vadnappa). I unfortunately had car problems on the way into the reserve so I had to depart sooner than I had intended. It was essential to try and find a mechanic before the start of a 3-day holiday weekend. As a result, I failed to find the dragon and many of the other herps from this area.
I have to apologize but most of the following photos in this post are habitat shots with only a few herps at the end.
To reach Arkaroola, I drove east from Kimba and then turned north at Port Augusta. The road from Port Augusta soon passed the western slope of the Flinder's Ranges.
Red River Gums were numerous along creek beds:
Cypress Pine were frequent on rocky slopes:
Near the little mining town of Leigh Creek, I turned east along a gravel road towards Arkaroola. The road passed through some bleak habitat. This sign made me laugh since there was so little "flora" to see:
Further west, the road passed through the Vulkathunha Gammon Ranges National Park. There was water in some of the gorges and even water flowing across the road in a couple of places. I talked with the locals and this was apparantly the remnants of heavy rain that they received in November (5", most of their annual rainfall).
... An interesting sign... 86 species of reptiles on their checklist!:
The road emerged onto the edge of a plain that faced the incredible Lake Frome, one of several immense salt lakes of South Australia. This dry lake is about 100km in length and is barely visible on the horizon of the first pic. Once upon a time, there was a great deal of water in this part of Australia.
... gibber flats:
I climbed this hill with lots of cracks and crevices but did not see a single reptile. I suppose that this was not surprising since the rocks were hot to touch. The day had been about 40C.
... this is a view of the road as it disappeared into the distant hills of the Arkaroola Reserve:
... here is the headquarters of Arkaroola. During the breeding season, a gorgeous male Red-barred Dragon (Ctenophorus vadnappa) lives on a rock near the building but now I unfortunately could not find a single animal. Staff said that they have not seen any recently probably due to the high temperatures. This resort is privately operated and reminds me a little of a desert version of O'Rielly's Guest House at Lamington National Park, Qld. There were many overseas tourists ... mostly American and Japanese ... who went on guided 4x4 tours through the remote country.
My car was sick (failing fuel pump) so I had to leave early on Friday morning and limp back to Leigh Creek for repairs. These are a few shots of the Arkaroola area that I took on the return journey:
... part of the formation named "old woman sleeping" by the aborigines:
Due to my limited time at Arkaroola, I did not see or photograph many reptiles. The few that I did photograph included this Cryptoblepharus skink:
... and this new species to me, a Central Rock-Skink (Egernia margaratae):
... Central Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps) near Leigh Creek:
I also saw but did not photograph a Gould's Monitor (Varanus gouldii) and a Black-headed Monitor (V. tristis). The later raced out of a tree and into a hole before I had a chance to take out my camera.
Here is a link to photos of the Red-barred Dragon, my target species at Arkaroola. These remind me a little of Eastern Collared Lizards since they can be bright green with red bars during the breeding season:
http://www.yellowfoot.org/Reptiles.htm
Despite the dry coniditions, there were a few plants with flowers on the rocky slopes:
... I think a member of Malvaceae
... a mulla-mulla:
... others:
Budgerigars were common along the creek beds along with Zebra Finches:
Little Corellas:
I was lucky to make it back to Leigh Creek in time to find a mechanic and to have a fuel pump ordered for overnight delivery. The next morning, I had a look around the countryside while awaiting car repairs. I was so lucky not have to "enjoy" this view for several days over the long weekend. This was the view across the road from the cabin where I stayed:
In this habitat, I found one of Australia's smallest lizards, Menetia greyii:
Later, I saw this DOR Western Brown Snake (Pseudonaja nuchalis) near a dry creek bed south of Leigh Creek.
I hope to visit South Australia again next season and try for the many species of Ctenophorus dragons that I failed to find this year.
Regards,
David
