moloch
New member
A week ago, my wife and I visited relatives in Brisbane (Queensland, Australia). We broke the journey with a stop at Girraween National Park. This park is in Queensland and is just across the border from New South Wales. It is about a 10 hour (800 km) drive from Wollongong.
Girraween is located in the "Granite Belt" that is found along the dry side of the mountains in northeastern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland. The altitude of the national park was only about 900m but it becomes cold (-3 C) in the winter. On the two days of my visit, the temperature varied from 32C in the day to about 14C at night. The second night was overcast with occasional light mist.
Here are a few photos of Girraween. This is a photo of a formation known as "The Sphynix". "Castle Rock" is more distant and left of centre.
This is a photo of "Granite Arch".
This is Mt. Norman.
There is a trail to the top of "The Pyramid". It was a great place for the beautiful Cunningham's Skink (Egernia cunninghami).
These rocks are the home of several species of geckos. One that I had hoped to find after seeing Nathan's beautiful photos earlier this year was Underwoodisaurus sphyrurus. The photos of this species in "A Field Guide to Reptiles of Queensland" by Steve Wilson were taken in the park but I had no luck. I tried driving, walking around rocks near the campgrounds and walked a couple of kilometers to Castle Rock at night but saw no sign of this species.
I did find four of these very local Wyberba Leaf-tailed Geckos (Saltuarius wyberba). This species is only found in a small area of northern New South Wales and adjacent Queensland.
First was this juvenile near the campground. This gecko was the only one that I saw with its original tail.
Later, I found this adult with a regenerated tail. I saw it several times during the night but it was usually resting high up in a crevice of a boulder. Around midnight, I found it at the base of the same rock in the leaf litter.
This gecko was actually perched on the wall of the National Parks Office.
As I left the park around midnight on my second visit, I saw this odd sight on the road. The evening was cool and misty and I think that the gecko was warming itself on the blacktop.
I would ike to thank Johan, one of the forum participants, for the information that he provided regarding where to find the Wyberba Leaf-tailed Gecko and others.
Girraween is located in the "Granite Belt" that is found along the dry side of the mountains in northeastern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland. The altitude of the national park was only about 900m but it becomes cold (-3 C) in the winter. On the two days of my visit, the temperature varied from 32C in the day to about 14C at night. The second night was overcast with occasional light mist.
Here are a few photos of Girraween. This is a photo of a formation known as "The Sphynix". "Castle Rock" is more distant and left of centre.
This is a photo of "Granite Arch".
This is Mt. Norman.
There is a trail to the top of "The Pyramid". It was a great place for the beautiful Cunningham's Skink (Egernia cunninghami).
These rocks are the home of several species of geckos. One that I had hoped to find after seeing Nathan's beautiful photos earlier this year was Underwoodisaurus sphyrurus. The photos of this species in "A Field Guide to Reptiles of Queensland" by Steve Wilson were taken in the park but I had no luck. I tried driving, walking around rocks near the campgrounds and walked a couple of kilometers to Castle Rock at night but saw no sign of this species.
I did find four of these very local Wyberba Leaf-tailed Geckos (Saltuarius wyberba). This species is only found in a small area of northern New South Wales and adjacent Queensland.
First was this juvenile near the campground. This gecko was the only one that I saw with its original tail.
Later, I found this adult with a regenerated tail. I saw it several times during the night but it was usually resting high up in a crevice of a boulder. Around midnight, I found it at the base of the same rock in the leaf litter.
This gecko was actually perched on the wall of the National Parks Office.
As I left the park around midnight on my second visit, I saw this odd sight on the road. The evening was cool and misty and I think that the gecko was warming itself on the blacktop.
I would ike to thank Johan, one of the forum participants, for the information that he provided regarding where to find the Wyberba Leaf-tailed Gecko and others.
