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I've just returned from a whirlwind trip to Windorah, Queensland. Windorah is a long drive (20 hours, 1600 km) from Wollongong but it is the home of several spectacular reptiles. My son and I visited the area last November and found many herps but the temperatures were already around 40C each...

Early spring in Wollongong has been good and I have seen a variety of reptiles and other animals. This post includes some of the animals that I have found in the last two weeks. This is a pic of Mt. Kiera where the photos in this post were taken. I walk up the hill on most days. The mild...

My wife and I had a short break to far north Queensland last week to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We returned to one of our favourite places, Mission Beach. When our kids were young, we visited Mission Beach almost annually. The Great Barrier Reef is not far offshore and it is one...

I photographed these Southern Leaf-tailed Geckos (Phyllurus platurus) near Wollongong (NSW) last month. They are always nice to see. Adult with regenerated tail: Another adult: This juvenile was so hard to see. I found it as I finished taking photos of the first adult. It...

Ted and I visited a number of beautiful places around the southwest corner of Western Australia. We unfortunately did find any more geckos after the Stirling Ranges NP but I thought that some of you might be interesed in seeing photos of this part of the world. After the photos, I have also...

After the Northern Goldfields region, we headed south through Kalgoorlie and then on to Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance. We did not see any geckos in this area but the scenery was fantastic. After a night, we headed west to the Stirling Ranges National Park northeast of Albany...

Here are a few more photos of the geckos from the Northern Goldfields region (central) of Western Australia. Fat-tailed Geckos (Diplodactylus conspicillatus) were the most common gecko. Most of them only varied slightly in colouration and looked like this: One, however, was a real...

One afternoon, we found a site with many granite outcrops and boulders. We stopped for awhile and searched these for reptiles. Ornate Rock-Dragons (Ctenophorus ornatus) were common and we also saw a few of the big and beautiful Lozenge-marked Dragons (Ctenophorus scutulatus). Ctenotus skinks...

After Kalbarri, Ted and I headed into the interior of the state. We drove south from Kalbarri to Geraldton, turned east and then headed into an area known as the "Northern Goldfields". We spent three days in this region and visited sites between Mt. Magnet, Meekatharra, Wiluna, Leonora and...

Ted and I also visited Nambung National Park. This park is located just a few hours north of Perth. We did not see many reptiles here but the park was spectacular and covered with limestone formations known as "The Pinnacles". We waited until dark and then began our night drive...

Here are a few more photos of geckos from the Monkey Mia region of Shark Bay. Much of the surrounding habitat is covered with red sand and this is always especially good for geckos. White-spotted Ground Gecko (Diplodacylus alboguttatus) -- these Monkey Mia geckos were much more richly...

Here are more photos of geckso (mostly) from Kalbarri National Park. White-spotted Ground Gecko (Diplodactylus alboguttatus) Gecko 1 Gecko 2 Western Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus granarensis) Common Dtella (Gehyra variegata) Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levis...

After two nights at Cape Range, we drove to Hamelin Pool for a night (already posted) and then headed on to Kalbarri for another two nights. This park is in the heart of the wildflower belt but unfortunately our visit was too late in the year to see many flowers. Kalbarri was still a very...

Here are more photos of the geckos from Cape Range National Park. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Cape Range NP is fantastic for geckos and well worth a visit. We saw about 40 or so geckos on the road each evening. Fat-tailed Geckos (Diplodactylus conspicillatus) at Cape Range did not vary...

After Shark Bay (Monkey Mia region), Ted and I drove north to the Cape Range National Park near Exmouth. The drive up North West Cape was a long one. Much of the drive passed through hot and dry grasslands and termite mounds were numerous in some areas. We had a chuckle when we passed this...

We also spent a night at Hamelin Pool. Hamelin Pool s located at the southern end of the Shark Bay, about 155km from Monkey Mia. The pools are the home of a cyanobacteria that forms coral-like formations known as Stromatolites. These organisms were known only as fossils until the middle of...

I have just returned from a two-week long trip through Western Australia with my old high school friend, Ted Cordery. Ted and I graduated from Hemet High School in southern California way back in 1971. At that time, we often headed out to the deserts in southeastern California to search for...

I decided to break the 14 hour trip to/from Lamington with an overnight stop at Girraween National Park. This park is located near the town of Stanthorpe in what is known as the "Granite Belt" of southern Queensland. The park is full of reptiles and one of the most productive places that I...

Last Friday was Australia Day, a public holiday. I used a couple of days of leave and drove for 14 hours up to a herp camp at the base of the Lamington Plateau. This area is situated about two hours southwest of Brisbane. I think that Lamington National Park is one of the prettiest in...

Nicholas and I stopped for a single night at Gundabooka National Park near the outback town of Bourke, NSW. I visited the park in January and February of this year but never had good conditions for exploring the red sands at night. On this visit, the temperature was warm and it was dark with...