# pics from Dharawal Nature Reserve, NSW



## moloch05 (Jun 1, 2008)

Last Spring, I visited Dharawal Nature Reserve on several locations. This reserve is only about a 20 minute drive from Wollongong. It is a great place for frogs, lizards and flowers. In this post, I will include photos of reptiles and flowers and in the next post, the incredible frogs that I found in the reserve.

I visited two parts of this park. One area was in the vicinity of Maddens Falls. 












... there is a gap behind the waterfall and it is big enough to crawl into






I found a few Eastern Water Dragons (_Physignathus lesueurii_) in the vicinity of the falls.











... I found this one asleep in a shallow crevice one night when I was searching for frogs:







The most common reptile along the creeks was the Eastern Water Skink (_Eulamprus quoyii_). 






... an "affectionate" pair. The rock was big but they appeared to want to be in contact.








Three-toed Skink (_Saiphos equalis_)






Red-throated Skink (_Acritoscincus platynotum_). 











The second area that I visited was drier. I followed a road that passed along sandy ridgetops with outcrops of sandstone.
















I saw different reptiles here. Among them was this _Cryptoblepharus_ sp. Dharawal is the nearest place to Wollongong where I have seen this skink.






Copper-tailed Skinks (_Ctenotus taeniolatus_) were only seen in the dry, sandy areas on the ridgetops.






Mountain Heath Dragons (_Rankinia diemensis_) were found both here and along the track to Maddens Falls.






Jacky Lizards (_Amphibolurus muricatus_) were also widespread and occurred in both the riparian and drier habitats.











I found this basking Eastern Brown Snake (_Pseudonaja textilis_) early one morning. It appeared to be cold and ignored me for several minutes.
















Scorpion Fly with its victim.






The spring flowers were spectacular. Here are a few of the species that I observed.
Spotted Sun Orchid (Thelymitra ixioides)






... their flowers would close in the late afternoon






a Finger Orchid







Members of the pea family were particularly abundant. Many of these were spectacular.





































The Protea family (Proteaceae) was also well represented



























A stunning _Boronia_











Others, such as this fan flower (_Scaevola sp_.):






Pink Wax Flower (Eriostemon australasius) 






_Hybanthus sp. _






_Ricinocarpus sp._






Fairies Aprons (_Utricularia dichotoma_) -- an insectivorous plant





Sundew










The best of the flower season spanned from the end of August to the end of October.


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## warren63 (Jun 1, 2008)

Those flower pics are magnificent and the rest are great too


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## krusty (Jun 1, 2008)

nice pics,looks like a great place


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## W.T.BUY (Jun 1, 2008)

nice pics!!! btw the second jacky photo is actually a mountain dragon


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## NaughtyByNature (Jun 1, 2008)

Fantastic photos, and wow what a beautiful waterfall pic


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## Vincent21 (Jun 1, 2008)

Awesome pics.


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## serpenttongue (Jun 1, 2008)

Moloch, do you go up Darkes Forest Rd to get to these areas?


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## moloch05 (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks for the comments.

W.T.Buy,
What feature are you using to separate the two?


serpenttongue,
Yes, along Darkes Forest road. The walk to the falls commences from a parking lot opposite an apple orchard. The dry country area was further west along Darkes Forest Road and along a sandy track.


Regards,
David


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## JasonL (Jun 2, 2008)

One of my favorite places, though I havn't seen many snakes there, well compaired to the amount of frogs in the area you'd think there would be more?? I probably went down there 30 times last season, a good short walk for the kids.


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## sassy (Jun 2, 2008)

Stunning pics as always. Would have been lovely to see the entire shrubs of the Grevilleas and Telopeas. Also one of my favourite Eriostemons, extremely hard to grow in a nursery environment. Where there any of the white australasius?

I believe those to be Grevillea bronwenea Grevillea longifolia and Telopea speciosissima.


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## hornet (Jun 2, 2008)

Deffinatly Telopea speciosissima. The caladenia looks like Caladenia carnea. Love the erect Drosera, not sure on the species, we get a similar species but much less robust here, D. pelata


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## ryanharvey1993 (Jun 2, 2008)

nice pics david once again, love the red throughted skinks and the brown


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## moloch05 (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks for all the comments and then help with the plant identifications (and lizard id correction).

Sassy,
I don't think that I have any full plant shots but here are a few others.

These two are from Heathcote but I believe that they are the same species as those at Dharawal











... from Dharawal
















... a waratah from Wollongong






Regards,
David


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## MrBredli (Jun 2, 2008)

Great pics as always David. Mountain Dragons can be distinguised from Jackys by the presence of tubercles at the base of the tail.


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## moloch05 (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks, MrBredli. That feature can easily be seen in these photos.

Regards,
David


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## Tim.Arm (Jun 2, 2008)

*Awsome shoots as allways David.*


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## dragon lady (Jun 2, 2008)

the big red flowers...i think JasonL..aslo had some in his thread?
wow...didnt think i like red that much?


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## moloch05 (Jun 3, 2008)

Thanks.

Dragonlady,
Waratahs (big red flowers) are spectacular in the spring. Several years ago, there was a fire along the top of the escarpment just west of Wollongong. For the next couple of years, the waratah display in the spring was incredible. Now, the other plants have regenerated and they crowd and overtake most of the waratahs. I could still see flowers last spring but many of the flowers seemed stunted and the display was not nearly as spectacular.

Regards,
David


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## Whisper2 (Jun 3, 2008)

far out, those are stunning photos of flowers!
so much colour in the photos, would love to see them in real life.
: )


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## TheoJ05 (Jun 3, 2008)

Nice pics mate!!! looks like i have to go there!!!!


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## Sel (Jun 3, 2008)

Wow those pics are amazing!


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