# Herping NT to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Qld



## DanTheMan (Apr 17, 2011)

In continuation from my previous posts, here is the 2nd to last chapter of a herping trip myself and a few friends went on from October-December 2010. Previous posts found below.

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...dies-5373/nt-qld-herping-trip-western-155397/
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...tudies-5373/nt-qld-herping-trip-alice-155404/
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...s-5373/herping-darwin-november-2010-a-156748/

Copied from my blog Dans Wild Australia | Herping Australia

Once we were done in Darwin, we thought we would quickly pop over to Western Australia for a few reptiles and stop in at the cattle station I had worked on over that year. We made it as far as Victoria River, changed our minds and drove back to Katherine that night. But before that, we met up with a few friends at Edith Falls, just north of Katherine. We arrived there later at night, after finding nothing  interesting on the drive from Darwin. The next day we went snorkeling hoping for some more aquatic snakes or turtles. No snakes were turned up, but plenty of turtles! All the one species of various sizes.

Northern Snapping Turtle – _Elseya dentata _Photo by Matt Summerville_

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Yellow-sided Two-lined Dragon – _Diporiphora magna

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After that, we cut accross to Victoria River which was 200km from Katherine, it’s a beautiful place but also very hot! We spent the daylight hours around the river, swimming in the safety of the shallows where crocs were not a real risk. Once the sun started to set, we then drove back to Katherine, finding no reptiles due the heat, other than a dragon of the same species as the one photographed above.



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The next day, we drove from Katherine to 3 Ways, a roadhouse at the intersection of the Barkley Highway and Stuart Highway, one way heading to Qld, another south to Alice Springs and the final going north to Darwin. We hung around there a bit and had a feed, waiting for it to get dark. I must also note that the young and very attractive American lass there took quite a shine to Matt! Who could blame her really? He seems to have a way with the ladies, it must be his ravishing good looks! We left there somewhere around 5pm, while it was still a stifling 41°C. Once dark had fallen, along with the temperature (very slightly, geckos were out in force, including 2 new species for the trip.

Southern Phasmid Gecko – _Strophurus jeanae_



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Sand-plain Gecko – _Lucasium stenodactylum

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Along with a very gravid female Central Millitary Dragon basking on the road late at night_ – Ctenophorus isolepis


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As with any arid region in Australia, it produced Mulga’s_ – Pseudechis australis



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And a new snake for us, Northern Shovel-nosed Snake – _Brachyurophis roperi


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The next day we headed back home to Queensland! We thought we were happy to back home in Qld. Now, 5 months later, we realise the Northern Territory is much better despite having fewer Macca’s stores.




We headed on to Mt. Isa, and as added in the 4th chapter of this trip, we found a few reptiles, photographs can be found in that same post right here
We spent the night in Cloncurry, and headed for Normanton the next morning. Along the way found plenty of Burns Dragons -_ Amphibolurus burnsi_, this one is a male.




Another major highlight of the trip, was discovering that on the road from Cloncurry to Normanton, someone has named a bridge after me! Quite understandable really…




And the bridge, in all it’s glory!




Brolgas




Heading into Normanton, the sky was looking to be holding a bit of moisture… (excuse the dirty windscreen)




Driving through that was the heaviest rain I have ever experienced! A nice tropical downpoor that had the road going under water. Driving at 40km/hr, I could hardly see a few metres infront of me and would get a bit of a fright when we hit some deep water running across the road!
We hung out in Normanton for a little while, hoping the rain would clear, which it did! So we headed to the coastal town of Karumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria, what a beautiful place it was!



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We then headed back to Normanton_, _and onto Georgetown_. _The only reptile for the night was a Orange-naped Snake – _Furina ornata_, which we didnt bother to photograph as we had seen so many through the Northern Territory.
Frogs were really out in force like nothing I have seen before, the roads were literally covered with them, and I couldnt help but run some over, despite trying my best to avoid them. It was like driving on bubble wrap! It was a defening chorus around the larger bodies of water, with many species of frogs.

A lot of this going on, particularly with the most abundant frog, New Holland Frog – _Cyclorana novaehollandiae



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This poor little guy was a bit confused… _



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I almost didn’t bother with this next frog as I though it was yet another colour variation of the overly common _Lioria rubella _(which I believe are still made up of a few un-described species)_, _until I saw one calling. Sounding very different, closer inspection revealed the nice yellow on it’s inner thigh and armpits, they were infact _Litoria electrica _(Electric Tree Frog).




There was one bridge that had a heap of these frogs hanging around it, very different to the ones we had seen around Fogg Dam in Darwin!
Dahl’s Aquatic Frog – _Litoria dahlii



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Pale Rocket Frog – _Litoria pallida



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Long-footed Frog – _Litoria longipes_ would stand up and puff themselves to appear scary, I was a little frightened, so I didn’t eat it.




Defensive frogs weren’t all that was scary, we were keeping a lookout for the notorious car-eating cattle the signs were warning us of…




We camped on the side of the road just out of Georgetown. After fueling up there, we headed on to a place we had heard was good for micro-bats. Night Tigers (a form of Brown Tree Snake) – _Boiga irregularis_ and Spotted Pythons – _Antaresia maculosa_ gather at the caves entry to pluck bats from the air as they came out at dusk.

During the day, we walked this rocky area for some diurnal species.




We found a few reptilians, such as these beautifully coloured skinks.
_Carlia jarnoldae – _Breeding Male




This big and very old Common Tree Snake – _Dendralaphis punculata _was in pretty bad condition and on his way out.








As usual, it was hot a humid and as sunset came around, thunderstorms were starting to roll in.




At this time, we saw a beautiful, large Greater Black Whip Snake – _Demansia papeunsis_ cross the road infront of us. To our frustration, it got away without photos. I have seen about 5 of these in the wild now (most of them in the Kimberley, WA) and am yet to photograph one! They’re quick snakes. However, Matt was almost in tears as this was a first for him, if there weren’t people around I am sure that he would have thrown himself on the ground, throwing a tantrum that a two year old would be proud of!

Once we arrived at the cave, it was dark, and ******* down with rain yet again. We quickly ran to the entry, took a few quick photos and ran back to the car. We only saw 2 Night Tigers, of which one had caught himself a bat, which is hard to see in the photos.








When standing near the entrance to the cave without torches on, you could feel the odd bat hit your head and flutter around your face, was awesome!!




Not far from these caves, we came across a Spotted Python – _Antaresia maculosa _having a drink off the road in the torrential rain. It was hard trying to get photos without rain getting on the lense, which did happen resulting in these photos looking a bit misty.








We also found a few Night Tigers – _Boiga irregularis _on the roads near this area, although not as strickingly coloured as either the ones at the cave, or in the Northern Territory near Darwin.




That night, we drove into the Atherton Tablelands. We spent a few days in this area, extending from Cairns up to Coocktown, back down to Townsville, through Julia Creek on the way back to Cloncurry to target Olive Pythons that still evaded us at this point! But that will be in the next, and final post for this epic trip!


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## guzzo (Apr 17, 2011)

WOW fantastic shots there .......love the BTS and bats......What Photography gear are you using....fantastic


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## snakes123 (Apr 17, 2011)

They are amazing photos, would of beed a awesome trip!


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## Sezzzzzzzzz (Apr 17, 2011)

What an amazing trip!!


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## Laghairt (Apr 17, 2011)

Love it! Thanks for sharing.


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## congo_python (Apr 17, 2011)

wow looks like you guys had a hell of a journey, thanks for the run down and the pics....very interesting.


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## CrystalMoon (Apr 17, 2011)

Bought back a lot of memories, I managed a tourist concern just over the QLD/NT border for around 5 years(4years ago)I had the privilege of seeing so much of our native species. There were prolific numbers of Olive Pythons and nearly plague proportions of whip snakes and what the local indiginous called Moon snakes(small snake around 30cm slate in body with a band of orange behind the head)Ohhh plenty of BHP's too. Home to the Carpentarian Rock Rat(only found on this Property)so the experts say ;-) I love your pictures, I have very few as I didnt have a very good camera till just before I left.


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## cadwallader (Apr 17, 2011)

looks like an amazing trip cheer for sharing


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## DanTheMan (Apr 17, 2011)

Cheers guys, sure was an awesome trip! Being home is pretty boring now...

Guzzo - I'm using a Canon 550D with no extra bells and whistles yet 
CrystalMoon - It sure is an awesome place! Moon Snakes were pretty common for us there too, same thing as a Orange-Naped, _Furina ornata_.


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## richoman_3 (Apr 17, 2011)

amazing !!!
what a sexy bridge


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## DanTheMan (Apr 17, 2011)

richoman_3 said:


> what a sexy bridge



My exact words when I first laid eyes on it.


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## Morelia4life (Apr 17, 2011)

That is awesome. What I would give to be able to do that. Very nice pics.


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## XKiller (Apr 18, 2011)

I rely did not think you were going to put this post up, Glad you did nice photos and nice bridge lol,

Shane


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## lace90 (Apr 18, 2011)

Awesome pics, and humorous subtitles  thanks for the post!!


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## nathancl (Apr 18, 2011)

I think your strophurus is actually taeniatus


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## CrystalMoon (Apr 18, 2011)

DanTheMan said:


> Cheers guys, sure was an awesome trip! Being home is pretty boring now...
> 
> Guzzo - I'm using a Canon 550D with no extra bells and whistles yet
> CrystalMoon - It sure is an awesome place! Moon Snakes were pretty common for us there too, same thing as a Orange-Naped, _Furina ornata_.


Ahhhh I thought they may have been Oranged naped, just was not sure(didnt have a comp out there to google lol)


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## -Matt- (Apr 18, 2011)

nathancl said:


> I think your strophurus is actually taeniatus


 
Was out of range for taeniatus according to my field guide Nath, right in the heart of jeanae range.... but you've proven me wrong before!


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## eipper (Apr 18, 2011)

Nath is spot on guys that is a taeniatus not jeanae me thinks....do you have a head shot showing scalation by chance? nice pics Dan and Matt

Cheers,
Scott


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## -Matt- (Apr 18, 2011)

eipper said:


> Nath is spot on guys that is a taeniatus not jeanae me thinks....do you have a head shot showing scalation by chance? nice pics Dan and Matt
> 
> Cheers,
> Scott



Well there you go, damn geckos! I don't have a head shot Scott, these are the only two pictures I have of it. How do you tell taeniatus and jeanae apart?









A definate taeniatus you think?


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## DanTheMan (Apr 18, 2011)

S. taeniatus nostrals don't touch the rostral scale, but does with S. jeanae. 
I never thought to do this at the time as I just thought it was definitely jeanae. I went through my other pics (none of which are good front on views) and zoomed in and thought it was touching, but it may have been my imagination as I want it to be jeanae! Dammit!
Cheers for that Nathan & Scott.

A bit pixelated but you get the idea, I thought it was touching on the left hand corner, but I have no pictures of S. jeanae to compare it to so am unsure. S. taeniatus?


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## eipper (Apr 19, 2011)

Hi Dan,

I just had a look at my pics of taeniatus from Dajarra (apparently only taeniatus occur in qld) and like your geckos the rostral *IS* in contact with the nasal.

I will make a couple of enquiries later on today.....possibly a faulty key or a range extension either way its good to know

Cheers,
Scott


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## edstar (Apr 19, 2011)

awesome pics. thanks for sharing


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## DanTheMan (Apr 19, 2011)

Hmm that's interesting. It will be good to know, thanks for that Scott.


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## eipper (Apr 24, 2011)

Hi all,

Bit of a stuff up on my part the key states nostril in contact not nasal in contact with rostral, both my pics and yours show the nostril is not in contact with the rostral and therefore taeniatus not jeanae

Cheers,
Scott


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## DanTheMan (Apr 24, 2011)

Ah righto, thanks for the clarification Scott!


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