Western Australia 4 -- Shark Bay part 1

[moloch05]

After Kalbarri, my wife and I drove north for about 5 hours to Denham, a small town on the central peninsula into Shark Bay. As we drove north, we left the sands and the beautiful wildflower country. This was replaced by mulga woodland. Further along, mulga trees replaced by low-growing shrubs. Much of the peninsula into Shark Bay was quite bleak.

We stayed in a little cabin opposite the beach in Denham:

I left soon after we unpacked and continued on to Monkey Mia. I wanted to check out the habitats and prepare for the night drive. Here are a few shots of the area.
Denham:

A small lagoon not far from town:

A view to the west into part of Shark Bay.

The red sand near Monkey Mia:

I knew from previous trips that this was an excellent location for geckos and the sand snakes. Unfortunately, our run of poor weather continued. The wind was strong each night and the temps plummeted soon after sunset. On the first night, I still saw many geckos but on the second, when the winds were even stronger, most reptiles disappeared about an hour after sunset.

The most common gecko by far was the Western Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus strophurus). Most of the ones that I encountered were gravid females. These were the only gecko that did seemed to handle the high winds without too much problem. I suppose that they have large toe pads that provide greater grip than the thin toes of the other Lucasium or Diplodactylus geckos.

The beautiful Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (Nephrurus laevis occidentalis) were common as well. On the second night, I saw one of these get hit by a blast of wind and it actually tumbled a few times before it regained its grip and ran from the road. This little male would arch its back and stand on rigid legs when I photographed it.

several gravid females:

I saw several of what I think to be Ornate Geckos (Diplodactylus ornatus). These geckos were similar to Western Stone Geckos (D. granariensis) but were a little stockier in build with shorter tails.

... male

... female

I am not certain but think that these are Kluge's Geckos (Diplodactylus klugei). They have a particularly pointed nose when compared with the similar but more widespread Beautiful Geckos (D. pulcher). Both species are possible at Shark Bay.

These are what I believe to be White-spotted Ground Geckos (Lucasium alboguttatus). Their colour is quite different to those from Kalbarri. These animals look much like the similar Lucasium sqarrosum that is found in the drier country further to the east.

Western Hooded Scaly-foots (Pygopus nigrescens) were common. I was excited each time that I spotted one since they look so snake-like on the road. Unfortunately, snakes mostly eluded me ... I don't think that they liked the high winds. Here are a couple of the little pygopods:

I did see two snakes, but both were what I think to be Southern Blind Snakes (Ramphotyphlops australis). One had been hit by a car and was dying. This one showed heavy scarring on its head. Blind Snakes eat the larvae of large ants and it looks like this one must have had some unpleasant encounters with the adults:

I also saw this live animal that crawled aimlessly around on the road.

Unfortunately, I could not find any other snakes. I was disappointed not to see the Sand Snakes (Simoselaps sp.) that I have encountered before. I think that I was about a month too early this year due to the late cool weather.


Regards,
David

 

[chloethepython]

fantastic photos

 

[warren63]

Great pics, thanks for sharing, always good to see some gecko photos.

 

[Snake_Whisperer]

Great pics, quite the variety of gekkos! Have never been to WA but Shark Bay is definately on my list of places to visit!

 

[dougie210]

Nice pics! Love the knob tailed gecko pics! Well all the pics were awsome! I wanna go to shark bay when i am older

 

[BrownHash]

Nice pics. Your Lucasium alboguttatus might be the new species Diplodactylus capensis.

 

[moloch05]

Thanks, all, for the comments.

BrownHash, the geckos were definitely not D. capensis but I do have a few photos of those from a trip a year ago. The WA geckos are so variable in colour and pattern.

Here are a few pics of the diurnals from the Shark Bay area. It was windy and cool on both days of our visit so we unfortunately did not see many reptiles.

I tried a trail through the red dunes near Monkey Mia on a couple of occasions. This area is unusual since there are both red and white dunes side by side. The red sands have blown to the coast from the interior of WA whereas the white sands formed locally.

I followed a nature trail through the dunes. Spotted Military Dragons (Ctenophorus maculatus) were the most common reptile.

I walked to the white dunes along the bay to see if I could find a Ctenophorus (Rankinia) parviceps. These small dragons are patchily distributed along the lower west coast and are restricted to shell-grit beaches.

There were a few dragons in the dunes but I only had fleeting glimpses of these and had no opportunities for photos. I did find this Sand Goanna (Varanus gouldii) that thought it was hidden from view. These are interesting lizards to follow. They will run to the far side of a thicket but then move so that they can peek around the edge to see if danger is still present.

Goannas often feed on road kills but this is a dangerous activity. They often end up as road kills as well.

Moloch live on the red sands but I could not find any. I tried searching near the nests of small black ants as well as following trails of these but had not luck at all. For awhile, I was afraid that this would be my only encounter with a Moloch on the trip. Fortunately, we found one later at Kalbarri (earlier post).

Shark Bay supports many species of reptiles but finding them can be difficult. One of the reasons for this is that numerous species, particularly the skinks, are fossorial. These are probably tracks of a Lerista, a genus of superbly adapted sand-swimming skinks. Western Australia is home to a staggering number of species of Lerista skinks yet I have only seen two of these after a combined total of 6 weeks of herping trips.

Monkey Mia Resort

The "pastures" of sea grass in Shark Bay support a healthy population of dugongs ("manatee").

I did not go out to see them but this cat at Monkey Mia takes out tourists to see dugongs, dolphins and the numerous sharks of the bay.

Monkey Mia is well known in Australia for its tame dolphins. A group of these stop by the resort every morning to be fed a few fish. The dolphins have been doing this for several generations.

One of the endangered bandicoots known as a Bilby has been re-introduced to the peninsula. I did not see any but like the Bilby signs:

Regards,
David

 

[smacdonald]

Hi David,

A great haul, as per usual. I've seen Simoselaps make tracks like those Lerista tracks you've pictured. I followed a fresh track to its end, dug down and found a Simoselaps disappearing through my fingers.

Stewart