Marbled Velvet Geckos (Oedura marmorata) were big, colourful geckos. They have distinctive juvenile and adult colourations.
... juvenile:
... intermediate between juvenile and adult:
... adult:
Gehyra robusta lived in drains beneath the road.
When the road crossed gibber flats (areas with small, polished stones) we found a small but interesting dragon. These were Pebble Dragons (Tympanocryptis cephalus), little dragons that mimic rocks. When frightened, they pull their legs against their body. Their tails are usually whitish in colour and resemble a dry stick.
Burton's Snake Lizard (Lialis burtonis) are lizards that belong to the flap-footed lizard family (Pygopodidae). These lizards are closely related to geckos and are primarily found in Australia. Burton's Snke Lizards vary greatly in colouration. This one was particularly nice.
This Spinifex Slender Blue-tongue (Cyclodomorpha melanops) was a lifer to me. It moved to the shade of Andrew's leg and then climbed to his head.
This Stimson's Python (Antaresia stimsoni) was on the road late on the second night in this area.
The highlight of the evening was finding this wonderfully marked Common Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus). It was a gentle snake and sat placidly while we took photos. This species has a highly toxic bite but it would be difficult to be bitten unless the snake was handled.
Strange grasshopper that looked pebble-like:
Burn's Dragons (Amphibolurus burnsi) were common along the road and on trees in the Eyrean Basin. They would wave their hand when disturbed.
We also found one of the similar Gilbert's Dragons (Amphibolurus gilberti). This was also a hand-waving dragon.
This frog would scream harshly at us if we approached it. I believe that it is in genus Cyclorana but am not certain of the species. The distribution of the various burrowing frogs is not that well known yet in the interior.
We found a couple beautiful Yellow-spotted Monitors (Varanus panoptes) the next day. These are fearless animals that quickly become adjusted to one's presence and then will continue with their foraging.
When I first stopped the car, the monitor reared and looked annoyed. It soon became calm and walked on.
Sometimes, they will lay flat like this as if they are hidden from view.
Andrew was thrilled to watch this big lizard at such close range. It walked right past him.
... it crossed the road and continued to hunt through the spinifex
This Freckled Monitor (Varnaus tristis) ran across the road in front of us and then climbed a tree. We stopped to photograph it. While watching it, the monitor detected a Burn's Dragon that we had not seen on a branch further up the tree. The monitor lunged at it and the dragon leapt head-first from the tree. The monitor also leapt after it and we watched the chase as the dragon bi-peddled (ran on hind legs) with the monitor less than a meter behind. The lizards ran across the road before the monitor gave up and walked by us again. It was an incredible sight but much too fast for photos!
Ring-tailed Dragons (Ctenophorus caudicinctus) were numerous on the gibber/spinifex flats. Males often used the termite mounds as lookouts.
... female
... male
Spinifex Pigeons lived in the same area as the Ring-tailed Dragon. These pigeons act more like quail than a typical pigeon. They were fast runners and usually only would fly as a last resort.
... displaying male. The female was nearby.
Inland Dotterals are a well disguised nomad of the outback. This one was sheltering in the shade of a road sign.
After two interesting days near Winton, we drove on to Porcupine Gorge NP near Hughenden. This was only a short drive of a few hours. Unfortunately, there were bush fires in the area so it was smoky and conditions for photographs were not good.
Along the way, we stopped at a lookout with several large Queensland Bottle Trees (Brachychiton sp.). These fat trees remind me a little boabs from the Kimberleys or baobabs from Madagasgar.
The gorge was filled with smoke. Something interesting here were the large fish that could be seen in some of the pools far below. They were dark and looked like huge Sooty Grunters.
The habitat above the gorge was dry eucalyptus savannah.
My friends thought that this must be one of the native Coral Bean (Erythrina sp.) Trees.
We went for a night drive but only saw a single fast pygopodid and many marsupials. Rufous Bettong were numerous. These were small macropods that are not much larger than a rabbit.
Andrew also photographed this Spectacled Hare Wallaby. This species was new to me. It seemed to be fairly common in the area.
After awhile, we gave up on the night drive and walked to a lookout. Although it was dry, we found this huge Green Tree Frog sitting on the trunk of a tree.
We called it a night and Andrew and I headed to our tents. Ted visited the washroom and soon we heard the call of "Snake!". Ted saw what looked like a cord wrapped around one of the floorboards but it did not look right to him. He had a look under the washroom and saw the head and tail of the snake so he called us over. It turned out to be an interesting little elapid that was new to me, a Pale-headed Snake (Holocephalus bitorquatus). We watched it for awhile. It was methodically checking the cracks between the floorboards for geckos. On one occasion, we saw a Gehyra dubia emerge and run for its life when the snake checked the crack where the gecko had been hiding.
One of the Cryptoblepharus skinks. I have not yet checked the distribution vs. species so don't yet know the identity of this little Snake-eyed Skink.
The following day, we drove on to Mission Beach. While heading towards the coast, we stopped briefly at the White Mountains NP. I hoped to be lucky enough to find the Dark Opal (Nesolycaena medicea), an endemic butterfly that is active in November. I soon found a bronze-coloured butterfly and thought that I had found my target. After taking a photo, I realized that I had the much more common and widespread Twin Dusky-Blue (Candalides geminus).
We also saw this large, freshly killed Greater Black Whip Snake (Demansia papuensis). This species is an impressive elapid that is extremely fast. The normal sighting is of a black snake racing across the road. I guess that this one just was not quick enough and it had been struck by a car.
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