September 2013 Simpson Desert Trip

It's been a while since I've posted anything from the Simpson Desert. I've been heading out there regularly with Sydney University's DERG (Desert Ecology Research Group). Check out a few select shots below or click through to the full gallery.

Moloch horridus, Thorny Devil

'Velvet Ant', a wingless female wasp (family Mutillidae)

Collared dragon (Ctenophorus clayi)

Perentie (Varanus giganteus)

Perentie (Varanus giganteus)

Spotted Nightjar

Dingo pup

Blue-Tailed Skink (Ctenotus calurus)

Rainbow Bee-Eaters

Long-nosed dragon (Amphibolurus longirostris)

From the centre

It's hard to believe that three years have passed since I was out in the Alice and kicking around Uluru and Kata Tjuta...

This Neobatrachus sudellae had recently emerged from the red dirt after a few drops of rain and is looking fairly unimpressed.

A sharp eye could reliably pick out the Tympanocryptis centralis on the rocks around Kata Tjuta.

Up on the cliffs...

Here's a small set of photos taken recently on the famous Coast Walk in the Royal National Park.

A large Eastern Brown Snake, Pseudonaja textilis

Rockwarbler, a Sydney endemic species

Peregrine falcon checking us out

Jervis Bay

A few photos from a great weekend in the beautiful Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay.

Jacky Dragon, Amphibolurus muricatus

Red-Bellied Black Snake, Pseudechis porphryacus, and a bull ant (Myrmecia sp.)

Sea eagle with prey

Bristlebird

Antechinus species - not sure if stuartii or agilis

Check out the gallery here.

Imperial Blue butterfly caterpillar

A caterpillar of the Imperial Blue butterfly (Jalmenus evagoras) is here being not attacked but tended and protected by Iridomyrmex ants, drunk on the caterpillar's secretions.

Pied Lacewing

Pied Lacewing - Porismus strigatus

Noticed a few of these beautiful lacewings in the local bit of bushland yesterday evening so I returned to photograph them this morning. They have a very weak-looking, fluttery flight. Actually found an ID on these guys - Pied Lacewing - Porismus strigatus

Big sucker (part II)

Toxorhynchites speciosus

Had to look way back into the archives to find this photo from 2004, taken on my first DSLR. It's the adult of the species in the previous photo - Toxorhynchites speciosus, the world's largest mosquito. The feathery antennae indicate that this is a male of the species.

Big suckers

It's been a long time since I played with anything like this... These are the rather beautiful larvae of the largest mosquito in the world, a resident of Sydney, Toxorhynchites speciosus. The mozzie itself is large and impressive (I'm sure I have an old photo somewhere...) and harmless to humans. These larvae are dangerous only to the larvae of other mosquito species, which they prey upon. I'd estimate these are getting up around 15 mm.

Meal for three

This mantid was joined at its meal of a honeybee by some uninvited guests in the form of tiny flies.

Catching up with the locals

I'm back in Sydney and will be here for some time. One of the things I really love about where I live is how bushland corridors spread into the leafy suburbs. From where I live I can walk a short distance and see a good variety of wildlife - including some threatened species such as the two below, encountered on a night a couple of weeks ago.

Red-crowned Toadlet, Pseudophryne australis

Powerful Owl, Ninox strenua

More Borneo material coming soon!

Borneo part III - Mammals at Mulu

Part I: Kubah National Park

Part II: Bako National Park

Our next point of interest was Gunung Mulu National Park. Arriving in the afternoon, we were transported to Benarat Lodge where we would spend a few nights as a base to explore the park before travelling the head-hunter’s trail to Limbang.

After being assured that the river flowing past our accommodation was free from crocodiles (phew!) and false gharials (damn!), we plunged into the cool water for a swim. As we floated in the current, keeping an eye out for the longboats that travelled the river, we could hear a repetitive barking call from the limestone cliff that overhung the water. We spent some time searching with binoculars for the source (monkeys? birds?) to no avail, and were later told that it’s a huge gecko. Guides would often tell us a story about this species (which we later found to be the Green-eyed Gecko, Gekko smithii): that a large individual would be worth many thousands of dollars on the black market for the ‘medicinal’ (think men’s problems again) properties of the gall bladder, and that poaching was not unknown.

As evening and a light drizzle fell, we donned our torches and began the walk to the National Park. We hadn't walked far before George spotted some eyeshine that got him very excited – it was the eyeshine of a smallish mammal that was clinging to a slim tree-trunk at about head-height. George turned to me and exclaimed “Dave – I think I've just spotted a Tarsier!”

Western Tarsier

Borneo Part II: Bako National Park

There are places in Borneo where the visitor is rewarded for trekking for long hours through the jungle, using his or her skills and know-how and enduring discomfort in the pursuit of animal sightings. Then there are places, like Bako National Park, where the wildlife just makes it all too easy.

Arriving at Bako felt like an adventure, being deposited on the beach after a scenic small boat ride. Shoes in hand, we walked up the sand to the dining hall where we met some fellow Aussie ‘herpers’ who had been there for a couple of days already and who proceeded to take us on a little tour of the nearby area.

Colugo (Flying Lemur)

This is how, just a few minutes after landing, we saw our first Colugo.

Borneo: Over the Wallace Line. Part I: Kubah National Park

In April, I took a trip to Malaysian Borneo with a mate of mine, George, with the simple aim of seeing as many animals over there as humanly possible.

We began our trip in Kuching and headed for Kubah National Park for a couple of nights' stay. We dumped our bags and walked straight out into the rainforest, filled with anticipation. Within metres of our accommodation we saw a couple of crimson-winged woodpeckers and a greater racquet-tailed drongo. I glimpsed a streak of grey-brown on a branch. It took me a few moments for my mind to come to terms with what I was seeing: a squirrel (it turned out to be a Low's squirrel). We were definitely not in Australia any more.

Low's Squirrel

Italy

Italian Wall Lizard, Podarcis sicula, Cefalù (Sicily)

I'm in Italy. Having a below-average appreciation of history and architecture, when faced with the 2000 year-old ruins of a civilisation, my first thoughts are generally "That's nice. I bet there are some lizards hiding in those cracks".

Moorish Gecko, Tarentola mauritanica, Cefalù (Sicily)

Dawsonia moss

Dawsonia is remarkable for its large size, supported by a water transport system unusual for a moss.

Golden Ants

They're golden, they're spined, but they're not Golden spined ants (Polyrachis), but rather a Dolichoderus sp. from the Hunter region.

Borneo – A Frogger’s Dream

The following is an article I wrote for the Frog and Tadpole Group's (FATS) annual colour edition of the newsletter Frogcall for December 2012. The draft title of "Borneo - A Frogger's Wet Dream" was deemed inappropriate for the family audience of FATS.

The articles I’ve written in the past for Frogcall have a common theme: travelling somewhere interesting and looking for frogs, often along with fellow FATS member George Madani. In April 2012, hungering for new adventure, we took this strange obsession to a new extreme, choosing to spend a month together in Borneo. To many of the frog-mad readers of this publication, this decision needs no further explanation. Why not? But for those not so well acquainted with the island in question, allow me to briefly explain our choice. 

Borneo is a big island in South-east Asia, nestled amongst the islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It’s separated from Australia’s biogeographic region by the ‘Wallace line’ – reflecting a very different evolutionary history. In terms of frog assemblages, without delving into the murky waters of frog systematics, this means that while there are some frogs in Borneo that are similar to ours taxonomically, many others are quite unrelated. For example, the microhylid family is well represented in both regions while the rhacophorid family is diverse in Asia but is not found at all Australia. So, being fairly familiar with what Australia has to offer, we were now heading into a region filled with animals completely new to us. We were looking forward to being clueless as to what we were seeing. That, and the fact that it’s a big island covered in hot, wet rainforest filled with animals and so what’s not to love? 

Within hours of landing on the island we were in the rainforest after nightfall following tracks and streams and loving every minute, our dreams coming true. This was more-or-less how we would spend the next month. We rushed around in frenzy, looking at each new animal, admiring its novelty, taking some photos, pondering its identity, then rushing only a few steps further before some new fascinating subject was caught in the beam of a torch. It soon became overwhelming. Without being overwhelming myself, I’ll try to condense a few highlights of the frog fauna that we saw.  

The Black-spotted rock frog (Staurois latopalmatus) waves with its back feet to communicate.

There’s the tree-hole frog (Metaphrynella sundana), a microhylid that breeds in small hollows in tree trunks that collect a little water. The tadpoles of another microhylid (Microhyla nepenthicola) live in the digestive fluids of carnivorous pitcher-plants. There’s the file-eared frog (Polypedates otilophus), with its beautiful tiger-striped legs and flanks, named for the sharp, serrated bony projections above the tympana (we discovered that this frog had a peculiar, strong stink when handled). We saw charming little Black-spotted rock frogs (Staurois guttatus) and their congeners the rock-skippers (S. latopalmatus)  – frogs that live on and around waterfalls and signal to each other with waves of the back feet. The giant river frogs (Limnonectes leporinus) which can grow to 15 cm long, eat anything they can fit in their mouths, and in turn and can be bought at village markets as a delicacy. Tree toads (Pedostibes hosii) that, despite their ordinary appearance, climb many metres up trees to call for mates. Also adept climbers are the slender toads (Ansonia spp.) with their long graceful arms and legs. The jade frog (Rhacophorus dulitensis) – a carved jewel. The guardian frogs (Limnonectes finchi and palavanensis); the male of which carries a mass of squirming tadpoles on his back. I could go on. 

A male Rough Guardian Frog (Limnonectes finchii) carrying a mass of tadpoles on his back.

If, like me, you ever pored over a book on frogs of the world as a child there’s little doubt that you’ve seen photos of two particular iconic frogs found in Borneo. The first we came across on only our second night – the Bornean Horned Frog (Megophrys nasuta). The legendary camouflage of this frog doesn’t help it stay hidden at night, when its eye-shine stands out like a beacon. Stumbling across three individuals easily was very lucky, as finding the frog by its call is frustrating in the extreme – it only makes its honking call once every few minutes. We were surprised to find that the ‘nose’ and other sharp-looking projections on this frog’s head are soft and fleshy! 

Needing no further introduction: the Bornean Horned Frog, Megophrys nasuta

The second ‘icon’ was Wallace’s flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus). Borneo is overrun with ‘flying’ animals: species of geckos, dragons, squirrels, snakes, and of course frogs. There’s also a very strange mammal called the Colugo or Flying Lemur – though it’s no lemur, occupying its very own order (Dermoptera). These animals all use flaps of skin, supported by fingers or limbs or, in the case of the reptiles, ribs, to slow and control a glide from a tree. In the case of frogs, there are several species in the rhacophorid family that have extensive webbing between the fingers to a greater or lesser degree. In the case of Wallace’s flying frog, this webbing is immense. Eventually, we found this spectacular species above a small muddy pool used by pigs as a wallow – and also by the frogs as a breeding site.

Wallace’s Flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) showing off its webbing 

While space permits only a brief mention of the other animals we spotted, suffice to say we were very very lucky and equally pleased. We got good looks at all those other types of flying animals. Plenty of snakes. Macaques, leaf-monkeys, proboscis monkeys, gibbons. The 70 cm long giant squirrel and the mouse-sized pygmy squirrel and several other types in-between. Tarsiers galore, Slow loris, even a Pangolin. Hornbills of several varieties. Large and beautiful insects, snails, millipedes. Shrews and otters and mouse-deer and civets, including the vegetarian binturong. Even an orang-utan and a bull elephant. 

Truly, Borneo is a paradise for the keen naturalist. Altogether we saw more than 50 species of frog alone, representing a vast variety of shapes, sizes, colours and life-history strategies. Though the conditions can be challenging, the reward in observing the myriad forms of life is unquestionably worth the effort.

In the shadow of Mt Kinabalu, the tallest peak in south-east Asia, we found the spectacular Mossy Treefrog (Philautus macroscelis)

If you’re interested in browsing many more photos of the bizarre and beautiful animals from David and George’s trip, head to the photo gallery here  

A touch of the South-west

Back in Winter I found myself in Perth briefly, and was able to squeeze in a couple of nights frogging and a morning of the fabled 'raking' that the WAliens are so fond of. 

First up, out in the Perh hills, was a really impressive frog - Heleioporus barycragus. Not named after a fella called Bary Crag at all, it turns out the name refers to the frog's "deep voice" which isn't actually very deep, but about "falsetto man voice" pitch. Male Heleioporus have impressive spikes on their hands, used apparently for male combat (though they must make amplexus a delicate affair). The photo below shows a male with a scar, presumably healing war wound.

There are a couple more Heleioporus species around the hills, and I was able to pick up a couple more: H. inornatus and eyrei, the Whooping frog and the Moaning frog respectively. These frogs all call from burrows in sand around creeklines. 

Whooping frog, Heleioporus inornatus

Moaning frog, Heleioporus eyrei

The marvelously carbuncular Neobatrachus pelobatoidies.

A rather ugly example of the Soft Spiny-tailed gecko, Strophrurus spinigerus

 

Raking, I'm led to believe, is a favourite winter pastime of Western Australian herpos. The procedure involves strolling around sandy areas with a garden rake, occasionally stopping and furiously agitating the top layer of sand and hoping to turn up some of the sand snakes and lizards that live in that habitat. For an East-coaster, it's all a bit bizarre. However, it did reveal this marvelous little creature below - Jan's Banded snake, Simoselaps bertholdi, which I spent some quality time photographing. Fantastic!

A taste of the Pilbara

I've just returned from the Pilbara - assisting a fauna survey job. It was my first time in this part of the country - so I found myself seeing plenty of new animals while at the same time recognising the connections that this landscape has with other parts of Australia.

Delma nasuta, Legless Lizard

We were located not far from the Hammersley Ranges, our survey sites butting up against Karajini National Park in some instances. Generally we were focussing on variations of mulga, spinifex and grassland habitats, with a few rocky outcrop areas thrown in.

Pilbara Ningaui, Ningaui timealeyi

It was boom time out there following a good wet season. We didn't catch a single animal in poor health or condition. Insects were in abundance. Driving around would invariably flush masses of Little Button Quail from the grass, and we even had some fall in traps (including chicks!). The Stripe-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura, below) has a tail about 10mm long at its base - this is the dunnart equivalent of a double chin in terms of fat storage.

Stripe-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura)

Reptile-wise we turned up a fairly good haul of lizards and snakes, including some blind snakes, various elapids, dragons and small goannas, a handful of geckos and legless lizards.

This Diplodactylus pulcher had just shed its skin and was showing its colours off nicely.

A young Varanus bushi - a small tree-dwelling goanna recently split off from gilleni/caudolineatus

Painted Pyrgomorph, Greyacris sp.

Exploring the rocky areas toward the end of the survey we managed to turn up quite a few more reptile species, including my favourite animal of the trip, the Spiny-tailed skink (Egernia depressa, below). This slow-moving, prehistoric-looking creature lives in rock crevices in small family groups.

The crevice dwelling Ctenotus rubicundus

Another rock dweller, Egernia formosa

Bandy-bandy snake, Vermicella snelli

Spiny-tailed skink, Egernia depressa

Dwarf bearded dragon, Pogona minor

Western netted dragon (Ctenophorus reticularis), above and below, surveying its domain.

Another highlight turned up on the final day as we were packing up - a Mulga dragon, Caimanops amphiboluroides, appeared right behind the ute we were loading. It was intent on digging - not a proper burrow at all but a shallow scrape. After some time it abandoned this one but began another! It was totally unafraid of us, and dug, ate ants, and even had its tail stepped on without seeming to mind. This species, the only one of its genus, is another one restricted to the North-West.

Mulga dragon, Caimanops amphiboluroides, above and below.

Still lots of Pilbara critters out there that I'm keen to see, and it looks like I'll be heading back over there at some point too.