Search results

Nicholas and I left Wollongong on the Windorah trip at 4:30am. We drove to Mt. Kaputar National Park in northern New South Wales where we walked for three hours. We then continued on to Moonie, Queensland, waited for dark and then set off on a night drive through remnant patches of brigalow...

Eastern Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus williamsi) were abundant in the Warrumbungles. We saw many on the road and soon did not bother counting any longer. Although the night was warm, the geckos seemed to be soaking up the warmth from the surface of the road. They lay with their bodies...

Ocellated Velvet Geckos (Oedura monilis) were farily frequent in the Warrumbungles. I found up to 10 of them each night on the road or climbing on the walls of the park headquarters and other structures. I think that the colour phase from the Warrumbungles is particularly beautiful. Gecko 1...

Nicholas and I spent the last two nights of our trip in the Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran. This is one of my favourite national parks with great scenery, bush walks and lots of reptiles. The Warrumbungles are an isolated moutain range that are situated to the west of the Great...

The habitats where we found geckos included clay pans, gibber flats and red sandy areas. Clay pans and gibber flats produced Fat-tailed Gecko, Tessallated Geckos and Common Dtella (where there were trees). The sandy areas were more productive and we found Northern Spiny-tailed Geckos, Jewelled...

This Jewelled Gecko (Strophurus elderi) was one of our favourite reptiles that we encountered on the trip. It was much smaller than I expected and it was hard to see within the spinifex. My son's sharp eyes picked it out but I would probably have missed it. After finding the gecko, we...

My son Nicholas and I have just returned from a week-long herping trip through inland New South Wales and Queensland. We traveled over 5000km but this allowed us to see some of Australia’s interesting and remote locations. Our stops included the Brigalow Scrub in south-central Queensland...

Here are photos of a couple of additional species of geckos that I saw on the trip. This is another photo of the area where I camped near Fowler's Gap. Common Dtella (Gehyra variegata) I turned it over a fence post near my campsite and found two of these Common Dtellas. Their colour was...

I saw two Thick-tailed Geckos (Underwoodisaurus milii) at Mutawintji. One was an adult and the other a juvenile. I found both in the same area that had a few scattered mulga trees.

I encountered four Northern Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus ciliaris) at Mutawintji and one in a dry creek bed at Fowler' Gap. I only found these geckos were there were shrubs or small trees. Habitat at Mutawintji: Creek bed in Fowler's Gap area (lined with trees): These geckos walked...

I found five Beaked Geckos (Rhynchoedura ornata) in this dry grassland on red sand. One was found while I explored the area on foot soon after dark but the other four were found while night-driving. These were fast running geckos that were easy to loose from view. Beaked Geckos have a...

I only found a single Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levis levis) at Mutawintji. The gecko was spotted by chance in this field as I turned my car around at the entrance to the national park. It was standing on the sand near the fallen branch at the bottom right of the following photo: I...

I only found Tessellated Geckos (Diplodactylus tessellatus) along the road between Broken Hill and Tibooburra. The habitat here was bleak with few larger shrubs or trees. Some areas were covered with small stones (gibber) and there were frequent deep cracks in the soil. According to the field...

Here are more photos of Box-patterned Geckos (Diplodactylus steindachneri) from Mutawintji. I think that they are one of the most beautiful of the Diplodactylus geckos. Gecko 1 Gecko 2 When disturbed, these geckos would lower their heads to the ground and not move. Their disruptive...

Here are photos of several Gibber Geckos (Diplodactylus byrnei) that I found at Mutawintji or Fowler's Gap, NSW. This species was new to me. In NSW, Gibber Geckos are mostly found in the far western areas although a second isolated population is also found in the south-central region of the...

I have just returned from a 5-day herping trip to far western New South Wales. My trip began with a 4:30am departure from Wollongong last Tuesday morning. After a marathon 15-hour drive (1300km), I arrived at the campground of Mutawintji National Park and set up my tent. Mutawintji is a...

Spring has arrived in Wollongong and today was beautiful and warm (27C). We were lucky this winter and only had about 2.5 months of cooler temperatures. Now, the flowers are out and the birds are noisy each morning with their spring songs. Since the night remained warm, I decided to walk up...

Winter has almost arrived here in Wollongong and temperatures are down to about 10C each night. Southern Leaf-tailed Geckos (Phyllurus platurus) are still active. I no longer see them on the rock faces at night but they are visible right at the entrance to their crevices. They often can been...

The nights are becoming cool (13C,55F) here in Wollongong (NSW) but the Southern Leaf-tailed Geckos (Phyllurus platurus) are still active. Here are a few habitat shots showing the rocks where the geckos live. They seem to prefer vertical rather than horizontal cracks within the sandstone...

Here are a few more geckos from my recent Queensland trip. After Eungella, my wife and I returned to the coast at Cape Hillsborough National Park. This park is located about an hour north of Mackay. We spent a single night in a cabin in the park. Gehyra dubia was abundant I went for...