Australia, Cape York, Iron Range NP

[Common Mime]

David's avatar?

David?

[Commander]

David?

Dun scratch head too hard. Wait hair all drop...

See here.

[Common Mime]

I was looking at this David...

[moloch]

CherHern,
As Les indicated, we are lucky here to have a good chunk of the top ten snakes! The family Elapidae (cobra family) is the dominant group here with about 100 species. Most, however, are not dangerous and nearly all of them are shy and happy to "run" away given the chance.


Thanks, Aaron. The Riodinids are one of my favourite families. I have photos of some really ones from Peru that I will post later on.

SoonChye,
I do enjoy reptile photography and most of my trips in the last 5 years have been organzied around snakes/lizards that I hoped to find.

We do have some nice butterflies but just not the numbers or varieties that you are used to. Our birdwing is quite dazzling. Ulysses Swallowtails are about as gorgeous as the Morphos in the New World.


Thanks very much for the info, Les. In November, my family and I will head up to Mission Beach in northern Queensland. Mission Beach is a good place for the tropical butterflies and I will try to get better photos of the Delias and others. Both species in this post are common in the gardens where we stay.


Thanks, Federick, but it was not a snake.


Chee Ming, You are correct! I will attach photos below. It was a big male Frilled Lizard, a spectacular dragon.


Thanks, Khew.


Regards,
David

[moloch]

Here is the Frilled Lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii). I did not annoy it but they put on a great display when threatened.




Ring-tailed Gecko (Cyrtodactylus tuberculatus)
... a cute little kid:

... and an adult:



Northern Velvet Gecko (Oedura castelnaui) -- These are lovely creatures.




Lace Monitor (Varanus varius) -- one of the larger species in Australia.



Northern Death Adder (Acanthophis praelongus) -- These snakes look like a viper but they are members of the elapid family (cobra relatives). They bury themselves beneath leaf litter and then use the brighly coloured tails as lures to try and attract birds, lizards or small mammals.

[Common Mime]

Nice nice nice! All are nice shots!

Did a search, Frilled Lizard is beautiful indeed!

[moloch]

Butterfly habitat:



Common Crows (Euploea core) are one of the most common butterflies in the far north.




... a "battered and bruised" Blue Argus (Junonia orithya). It was amazing to me to see so many butterflies that were in terrible condition like this.




Palm Cockatoo -- these lovely birds are another Iron Range specialty.



Sulphur Crested Cockatoo -- big noisy parrots that seem to be everywhere in Oz.



Eclectus Parrot -- a highly cropped shot of a pair. These are beautiful birds and the sexes look so different. The female is red and purple but the male (on left) is mostly green with patches of red. In Australia, they are part of the New Guinea contingent and are moderately common at the Iron Range.



Rainbow Lorikeets and Pale-headed Rosellas -- In the evenings, we saw many species dropping to this pond to drink. After Taman Negara, I think of these as "puddlers" like all of those colourful pierids!

[Common Mime]

Love the last shot! So beautiful!

[Bluebottle]

David, thanks for sharing. I enjoy your photos and post.
And this cute little guy seems to give you a cheeky smile

[Blue Nawab]

Wow David, lots of interesting reptile photographs and butterflies too. The snakes photographs were really fantastic, how far were you when you were taking those poisonous snakes. Must really be very sharp in detecting them as they are all camouflaged and buried in the leaf litter? Like the lizard shots. Thanks for sharing...more please...