Wollongong, Phyllurus platurus

[moloch]

Wollongong (New South Wales, Australia) is a long and narrow city that borders the ocean to the east and a plateau to the west. The edge of the plateau is steep and near the top, there are often rocky cliffs.

In January, I began walking along these cliffs at night to see if I could find Broad-tailed Geckos (Phyllurus platurus). On the second attempt, I found this beautiful juvenile with a perfect tail. It was wonderfully cryptic and I only saw it because it moved.

Over the next couple of weeks, I saw a few more. These were all adults.

These geckos are amazing. They generally do not move even when I am standing nearby. They must rely on their disruptive pattern to hide themselves from potential danger.

Lately, I have been unable to relocate the geckos. There are many cliffs and crevices so it would not be hard for the geckos to remain out of sight.

 

[Strophurus]

Hello, well very interesting Geckos, must be wonderfull to search for those animals. The juvie platurus on the first pic has some red markings on his scales, like Nathan and i have regonized also on some of our ciliaris.
very interesting pictures as usual
regards stefan

 

[Jan Grathwohl]

Very nice specimens - lovely photos as always

 

[Minhawali]

Very nice shots, David.

Johan.

 

[Justin]

Thanks very much for the photos, excellent shots and very useful as habitat guides.

 

[Ken Bartenfeld]

:shock:

 

[MiCh@3L]

great - like always, David!

 

[Brandon]

great pics! I am especially fond of the habitat shots you've given us lately

 

[Derek]

Awesome habitat and phyllurus pics!

Derek

 

[Ken Bartenfeld]

Man o man!!! I just wanna camp in that spot! And have me a little fire, roast some marshmellows, mmm...!

Thanks for the photos AGAIN!

 

[ScottW]

Very cool post. Like everyone else I really enjoyed the habitat pics, maybe more so then the gecko pics
-Scott

 

[Ken Bartenfeld]

I really enjoyed the habitat pics, maybe more so then the gecko pics

Hehe, I agree!

 

[moloch]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.

Wollongong is a beautiful place. I have lived here since 1982 and love the area.

This is a shot of Mt. Kiera (habitat shots at top of post) from the southwest. The cliff face that can be seen on the right of the hill is where I found the geckos. I live in the city just below this hill. My younger daughter and I walk up to the top of Mt. Kiera (460m) on most mornings for exercise.

This is a shot from the top of Mt. Kiera looking north along the coast towards Sydney. Sydney CBD is only 85 km away but we are fortunately separated by a large national park and water catchment land. All of this is forested.

 

[geckodan]

Hi David, Whereabouts in Australia are you based. Are you a resident or visting. If you get up to Qld you are most welcome to visit and I can show you some local spots.