In June last year a friend and I migrated north for the winter. It was a very short migration, but it was enough time for us to poke around Darwin, Kakadu and Katherine. The middle of the dry season is not the best time of year to go looking for reptiles, but I had lots of free time so it was convenient. The two species I really wanted to see were Oenpelli pythons and chameleon dragons. Both of these species are really rare/cryptic, so I didn’t hold out much hope. But my chances of seeing them were certainly better than if I’d have stayed in Brisbane.

Darwinian Adventure
The trip started off well when we pulled into a spot at a caravan park and I jumped out of the car to find myself face to face with a swamplands lashtail dragon (Amphibolurus temporalis). I had wanted to find some mangrove snakes along the edges of Darwin Harbour, but the sneaky little blighters eluded me. Next time I’m up there I’m going to meet up with Darwin’s foremost authority on these semi-aquatic colubrids, and he’s guaranteed me that he’ll be able to show me all three species.

Amphibolurus temporalis

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The Gulf had a bumper wet 09-10 season, so there was plenty of water and plenty of critters when I was up there last month. The only new reptile for me was the little spotted snake, but I wasn’t actually there when it was caught (I was still in Brisbane, but flew up the next day), so I’m not sure if I can reptick it.

I did see a couple of new frogs and birds, including a 2.7-second glimpse of a Gouldian finch (just enough time to take some photographic evidence). Gouldian finches are pretty rare in Queensland. I think I pished this one in from the NT.

Little spotted snake (Suta punctata)

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Pics from various places in South-East Queensland.

Road-killed eastern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens) being eaten by beetle

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Photos from a trip to Dalby in February of this year.

Eastern bearded dragon (Pogona barbata)

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Some pics from a recent jaunt to Alpha, Central Queensland. No new reptile species on this trip.

Red-naped snake (Furina diadema)

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Some more photos from a recent trip to the Dalby area. The unadorned delma is a new species for me, and reptick #7 for the year. I still have a long way to go to see 50 new reptile species this year, but I have a cunning plan…

Unadorned delma (Delma inornata)

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After fleeing the approaching tropical cyclone Ului, we ended up at Tully Gorge. This spot is famous for scrub pythons, but the last time I was there I found only a road-killed one. This time I was hoping we’d be able to find a live one, but the light-but-unending rain seemed determined to throw a spanner in the works. We poked around the campground as the final rays of sunshine disappeared over the horizon. We saw the ubiquitous Carlia rubrigularis dashing around in the leaf litter, and there were dozens of baby cane toads bouncing around the place. As darkness fell, we realised that while the rain might dash our hopes of finding a huge number of reptiles, it would mean that frogs would be out in force. Tully Gorge is home to a great variety of frogs, including some threatened species. Sure enough, poking around the various creeks proved very fruitful on the froggy front.

Common mistfrog (Litoria rheocola)

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Last year I thought I’d be moving to Townsville. I got excited by the prospect of living in a new place with new species of wildlife for me to discover (and tick!). Ultimately the plan was changed, a heart was broken and the body stayed in Brisbane. But the mind was left thinking about the repticking possibilities offered by the north. So when some of our work was rained off last week, a friend and I took the opportunity to pack the bags and head to Townsville for a few days. Approaching cyclone be damned!

We arrived in a hot and humid Townsville on Sunday, picked up a hire car, then headed straight to the ferry terminal. We wanted to spent the afternoon chasing Little Brown Skinks on Magnetic Island. Unfortunately, the LBS we were after was nowhere to be found, but we found some other not-quite-as-little and slightly-less-brown skinks to keep us amused.

Shaded litter-skink (Carlia foliorum)

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