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moloch05

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Kalbarri National Park was the second stop on our trip to the west. This park is about a 7 hour drive north of Perth and it is one of my favourite places in Western Australia. The park is in the heart of the wild flower country and it has an incredibly rich flora. I will be posting many flower shots in the second of the Kalbarri posts.

Angie and I spent two nights in the town of Kalbarri. On our one full day in the area, we headed out to the gorge section of Kalbarri National Park for a walk one morning. The walk was not long, only 8 km, and it followed the meandering gorge carved by the Murchison River. The river has exposed rocks that were once the floor of an ancient sea. The walls of the gorge were red from the abundant iron oxides that were deposited over the millennia. The views were stunning and I would highly recommend the walk to anyone who visits this incredible national park. Below are a number of shots from the walk:
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Eucalyptus in the gorge had smooth, white bark. Mulga trees and bottlebrush were also abundant.
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The habitat in the gorge was completely different to that in the sand country above the gorge. There were few flowering shrubs but many annuals.
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The most common reptile that we encountered was the Long-nosed Dragon (Amphibolurus longirostre). These lizards can be wary but on this day, they all allowed me to approach closely. I suppose that this had to do with the mild rather than hot temperatures. These lizards, along with Gilbert's Dragons, are sometimes known as "Ta-ta" lizards due the way that they wave their front legs at an intruder. One male began waving when I approached. Later, it also bobbed its head to try to get me to move away.
... females
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... males
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This is a lousy photo but it was a new skink to me. This Morethia butleri was sunning on the trunk of a Mulga Tree. It was one of three possible Morethia skinks from Kalbarri but it was the only individual of this genus that I encountered.
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Kalbarri is the home of several species of Ctenotus skinks. Members of this genus are often hard to identify but I think by range and pattern that this would be a C. fallens, a fairly widespread species in the west.
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I was very excited once when I saw a strange brown tail disappear into a crevice. I did not notice the fur and could not think what "lizard" it might be. I sat and waited a few minutes to eventually see this cute little marsupial emerge. I believe that it was a Fat-tailed Dunnart, a small, carnivourous marsupial.
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My wife, Angie, at "The Window" near the start/end of the walk. My wife is not interested in birds or reptiles but she loves travel as long as I don't take her too far out into the outback. For some strange reason, she does not find these remote, hot, dusty, fly-infested habitats to be all that interesting even after a great deal of training. I am lucky, though, that she does love walking as long as conditions are not too harsh.
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I went night driving on of our nights in Kalbarri. As usual, the nights were cool and windy and it rained on my second night in the park. I found a single snake in two nights of driving, a Southern Shovel-nosed Snake (Brachyurophis semifasciatus). This little elapid is a reptile egg specialist so it would not doubt be eating often at the moment since so many geckos were carrying eggs.
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Geckos were numerous. I saw several Western Stone Geckos (Diplodactylis granariensis). Most looked like these two:
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... but one was different and very nicely marked. I am not certain but I think that it was a Western Stone Gecko rather than the similar Ornate Gecko (Diplodacytlus ornatus)
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This was my third trip to Kalbarri National Park but it was the first time that I found Beautiful Geckos (Diplodactylus pulcher).
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I saw a few White-spotted Ground Geckos (Lucasium alboguttatum):
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Soft Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus spinigerus) were abundant, but I failed to find any Western Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus strophurus) as I have on earlier visits. Strophurus are certainly photogenic lizards with their incredible eyes.
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I only found a single Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levis occidentalis):
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I also found a Tessallated Gecko (Heteronotia binoei) that I was not able to photograph and this Variegated Gecko (Gehyra variegata):
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It rained while I was driving on my second night at Kalbarri. Most geckos disappeared by I saw a few Soft Spiny-tailed Geckos walking around with water dripping off their backs. Frogs appeared almost as soon as the rains commenced. I saw several species including these plump Western Spotted Frogs (Heleioporus albopunctatus):
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I am not certain about the identity of this frog. It looks like a member of Neobatrachis but I did not hear the call which is the best feature for separating the similar species. To me, it most resembles a Kunapalari Frog (Neobatrachis kunapalari) but I cannot be certain as to the identity.
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I also saw many of these tiny toadlets. It looks the most like a Western Toadlet (Pseudophryne occidentalis) to me but I am not certain of this identification.
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Regards,
David
 
Great photos David, I like the H. albopunctatus. They are one of my favourite frogs. I think you are correct with your Neobatrachus ID, but there are possibly 4 species converging in Kalbarri NP. If it was larger than 4cm it is most likely N. kunapalari because the others don't seem to get this large. Your Pseudophryne looks like a Guenther's Toadlet (Pseudophryne guentheri) based on the skin ridges above the shoulder P. occidentalis is usually smooth skinned. Did you find the Pseudophryne walking across open ground?

Aaron
 
Beautiful Pics, I love that landscape that has no semblance of human interference. Great pics
 
Thanks, everyone.

That was excellent info Aaron. Thanks! Based on the 4cm rule, the frog would have been N. kunapalari size it was farily large. The little Pseudophryne was walking on the road during a light shower. I saw a number of these little frogs that seem to like to run or walk rather than hop.


Regards,
David
 
The little Pseudophryne was walking on the road during a light shower. I saw a number of these little frogs that seem to like to run or walk rather than hop.

Thats great David, I've never been lucky enough to see a Pseudophryne wandering around in the open - I think they like to see me on my hands and knees looking for them :lol:

Aaron
 
Absolutely awesome, I need to buy me a landcruiser or patrol to go travelling/herping in...I miss the bush...
 
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