moloch
New member
We drove from Chillagoe to Cooktown on the tropical coast of the Cape York Peninsula. Along the way, we passed through a torrential tropical down pour.
Cooktown was another scenic location. Here are a few scenery shots from the Cooktown area:
One of the reasons for heading to Cooktown was to look for the endemic lizards at the nearby Black Mountain National Park. Black Mountain is well named and it consists of a huge pile of black granite boulders. The entire area is not all that large nor has it ever been large. It is mind-boggling to me to think that two lizards and a frog only live at this tiny site. I can understand relicts on high mountains but how can this happen where there has not been a change in climate or vegetation? It seems bizarre.
Here are a couple of habitat shots:
We hopped around on these boulders at night and very quickly located the Black Mountain Gecko (Nactus galgajuga). They were common and easy to find. Our field guide indicates that they are quick and agile but we had no problems -- except avoiding deep crevices -- approaching and photographing the geckos. We also saw a few Ring-tailed Geckos. Walking around on the boulders at night was a little eerie due the the strange moaning sounds that emanated from deep within the crevices. The mountain was "porous" due to all of the gaps betwen the rocks and wind passed through these and made the odd sounds that we heard.
Black Mountain Gecko
Nick and I heard Black Mountain Frogs calling from within the crevices during the day. My son climbed into one of the these and was able to get within a couple of meters of a calling frog but he could not spot it.
Here is the other endemic lizard on these rocks, a Black Mountain Skink (Carlia scirtetis). It was abundant during the day.
We also went night driving through savannah country. We found two of these beautiful Northern Velvet Geckos (Oedura castlenaui) on the road.
We hoped that we might encounter a Nephrurus asper but had no luck with that species ... maybe next time.
Regards.
David
Cooktown was another scenic location. Here are a few scenery shots from the Cooktown area:
One of the reasons for heading to Cooktown was to look for the endemic lizards at the nearby Black Mountain National Park. Black Mountain is well named and it consists of a huge pile of black granite boulders. The entire area is not all that large nor has it ever been large. It is mind-boggling to me to think that two lizards and a frog only live at this tiny site. I can understand relicts on high mountains but how can this happen where there has not been a change in climate or vegetation? It seems bizarre.
Here are a couple of habitat shots:
We hopped around on these boulders at night and very quickly located the Black Mountain Gecko (Nactus galgajuga). They were common and easy to find. Our field guide indicates that they are quick and agile but we had no problems -- except avoiding deep crevices -- approaching and photographing the geckos. We also saw a few Ring-tailed Geckos. Walking around on the boulders at night was a little eerie due the the strange moaning sounds that emanated from deep within the crevices. The mountain was "porous" due to all of the gaps betwen the rocks and wind passed through these and made the odd sounds that we heard.
Black Mountain Gecko
Nick and I heard Black Mountain Frogs calling from within the crevices during the day. My son climbed into one of the these and was able to get within a couple of meters of a calling frog but he could not spot it.
Here is the other endemic lizard on these rocks, a Black Mountain Skink (Carlia scirtetis). It was abundant during the day.
We also went night driving through savannah country. We found two of these beautiful Northern Velvet Geckos (Oedura castlenaui) on the road.
We hoped that we might encounter a Nephrurus asper but had no luck with that species ... maybe next time.
Regards.
David
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