moloch
New member
After Kalbarri, my wife and I drove north for about 5 hours to Denham, a small town on the central peninsula into Shark Bay. As we drove north, we left the sands and the beautiful wildflower country. This was replaced by mulga woodland. Further along, mulga trees replaced by low-growing shrubs. Much of the peninsula into Shark Bay was quite bleak.
We stayed in a little cabin opposite the beach in Denham:
I left soon after we unpacked and continued on to Monkey Mia. I wanted to check out the habitats and prepare for the night drive. Here are a few shots of the area.
Denham:
A small lagoon not far from town:
A view to the west into part of Shark Bay.
The red sand near Monkey Mia:
I knew from previous trips that this was an excellent location for geckos and the sand snakes. Unfortunately, our run of poor weather continued. The wind was strong each night and the temps plummeted soon after sunset. On the first night, I still saw many geckos but on the second, when the winds were even stronger, most reptiles disappeared about an hour after sunset.
The most common gecko by far was the Western Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus strophurus). Most of the ones that I encountered were gravid females. These were the only gecko that did seemed to handle the high winds without too much problem. I suppose that they have large toe pads that provide greater grip than the thin toes of the other Lucasium or Diplodactylus geckos.
The beautiful Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (Nephrurus laevis occidentalis) were common as well. On the second night, I saw one of these get hit by a blast of wind and it actually tumbled a few times before it regained its grip and ran from the road. This little male would arch its back and stand on rigid legs when I photographed it.
several gravid females:
I saw several of what I think to be Ornate Geckos (Diplodactylus ornatus). These geckos were similar to Western Stone Geckos (D. granariensis) but were a little stockier in build with shorter tails.
... male
... female
I am not certain but think that these are Kluge's Geckos (Diplodactylus klugei). They have a particularly pointed nose when compared with the similar but more widespread Beautiful Geckos (D. pulcher). Both species are possible at Shark Bay.
These are what I believe to be White-spotted Ground Geckos (Lucasium alboguttatum). Their colour is quite different to those from Kalbarri. These animals look much like the similar Lucasium sqarrosum that is found in the drier country further to the east.
Western Hooded Scaly-foots (Pygopus nigrescens) were common. I was excited each time that I spotted one since they look so snake-like on the road. Unfortunately, snakes mostly eluded me ... I don't think that they liked the high winds. Here are a couple of the little pygopods:
I did see two snakes, but both were what I think to be Southern Blind Snakes (Ramphotyphlops australis). One had been hit by a car and was dying. This one showed heavy scarring on its head. Blind Snakes eat the larvae of large ants and it looks like this one must have had some unpleasant encounters with the adults:
I also saw this live animal that crawled aimlessly around on the road.
Unfortunately, I could not find any other snakes. I was disappointed not to see the Sand Snakes (Simoselaps sp.) that I have encountered before. I think that I was about a month too early this year due to the late cool weather.
Regards,
David
We stayed in a little cabin opposite the beach in Denham:
I left soon after we unpacked and continued on to Monkey Mia. I wanted to check out the habitats and prepare for the night drive. Here are a few shots of the area.
Denham:
A small lagoon not far from town:
A view to the west into part of Shark Bay.
The red sand near Monkey Mia:
I knew from previous trips that this was an excellent location for geckos and the sand snakes. Unfortunately, our run of poor weather continued. The wind was strong each night and the temps plummeted soon after sunset. On the first night, I still saw many geckos but on the second, when the winds were even stronger, most reptiles disappeared about an hour after sunset.
The most common gecko by far was the Western Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus strophurus). Most of the ones that I encountered were gravid females. These were the only gecko that did seemed to handle the high winds without too much problem. I suppose that they have large toe pads that provide greater grip than the thin toes of the other Lucasium or Diplodactylus geckos.
The beautiful Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (Nephrurus laevis occidentalis) were common as well. On the second night, I saw one of these get hit by a blast of wind and it actually tumbled a few times before it regained its grip and ran from the road. This little male would arch its back and stand on rigid legs when I photographed it.
several gravid females:
I saw several of what I think to be Ornate Geckos (Diplodactylus ornatus). These geckos were similar to Western Stone Geckos (D. granariensis) but were a little stockier in build with shorter tails.
... male
... female
I am not certain but think that these are Kluge's Geckos (Diplodactylus klugei). They have a particularly pointed nose when compared with the similar but more widespread Beautiful Geckos (D. pulcher). Both species are possible at Shark Bay.
These are what I believe to be White-spotted Ground Geckos (Lucasium alboguttatum). Their colour is quite different to those from Kalbarri. These animals look much like the similar Lucasium sqarrosum that is found in the drier country further to the east.
Western Hooded Scaly-foots (Pygopus nigrescens) were common. I was excited each time that I spotted one since they look so snake-like on the road. Unfortunately, snakes mostly eluded me ... I don't think that they liked the high winds. Here are a couple of the little pygopods:
I did see two snakes, but both were what I think to be Southern Blind Snakes (Ramphotyphlops australis). One had been hit by a car and was dying. This one showed heavy scarring on its head. Blind Snakes eat the larvae of large ants and it looks like this one must have had some unpleasant encounters with the adults:
I also saw this live animal that crawled aimlessly around on the road.
Unfortunately, I could not find any other snakes. I was disappointed not to see the Sand Snakes (Simoselaps sp.) that I have encountered before. I think that I was about a month too early this year due to the late cool weather.
Regards,
David
Last edited:
We got 5 species altogether 
