# Pilbara herping trip jan 2012



## luzek (Jan 21, 2012)

A colleague and I recently got back from a herping trip through the Pilbara ranges. We were hoping to travel further north to the port headland area to try our luck for some Womas and Black headeds but unfortunately we were hit by the full force of mother nature. When it rains up there it seriously rains! On one day it rained for 13 hours straight, transforming the dry, sun scorched landscape to a series of lakes for as far as the eye could see. Due to the very real chance of being hit by a cyclone we decided to cut our losses and head home after four nights. Frustratingly we had some problems with the photography due to our lenses constantly fogging up on some nights due to the humidity. Anyway here's the pick of the bunch hope you enjoy!






_Varanus panoptes Cue area



Caimanopes amphiboluroides _we found several gravid females sunning themselves north of Paynes Find.
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Ctenophorus nuchalis Mt Magnet area




Spinifex habitat near Hamersley gorge


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Fruit Bats_ Pteropus alecto roosting in trees at the base of a gorge



fig tree near fern pool Karijini national park



Hamersley Gorge










Ctenophorus caudicinctus this species was abundant right throughout the ranges and rocky areas.



Amphibolurus longirostris




Antaresia stimsoni 




Acanthophis wellsi these animals are truly impressive, this snake though was certainly not the most impressive example of A. wellsi we sighted. I personally like much darker bands in them and we found some that had perfectly black contrasting bands, however none of these were photographed due to camera issues.



furina ornata



Diplodactylus conspicillatus



Lucasium stenodactylum



Oedura marmorata interesting pilbara colour form.


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_Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus_. Easily my favourite species in the genus. interestingly we found several males with re-gen tails. This species was very common on overcast nights especially when the humidity reached 80% or higher.




_Strophurus wellingtonae



Strophurus jeanae



Ctenotus saxatilis



Carlia munda



Eremiascincus fasciolatus



Egernia formosa

Total species list:

Frogs:
 Cyclorana maini
Litoria rubella

Geckoes:
Diplodactylus conspicillatus
Lucasium stenodactylum
Gehyra pilbara
Gehyra variegata
Heteronotia binoei
Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus
Oedura Marmorata
Rhynchoedura ornata
Strophurus jeanae
Strophurus wellingtonae

Skinks:
Carlia munda
Cryptoblepharus ustulatus
Ctenotus saxatilis
Egernia formosa
Eremiascincus fasciolatus

Dragons:
Amphibolurus longirostris
Caimanops amphiboluroides
Ctenophorus caudicinctus
Ctenophorus isolepis isolepis
Ctenophorus nuchalis 
 Pogona minor (minor/mitchelli)

Monitors:
Varanus gouldii
Varanus panoptes

Legless lizard:
Lialis burtonis

Snakes:
Acanthophis wellsi
Antaresia perthensis
Antaresia stimsoni
Furina ornata
Pseudechis australis
Pseudonaja mengdeni

Other:
Ardeotis australis
Pteropus alecto
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## GeckPhotographer (Jan 21, 2012)

Nice pictures I like the wheels, jaenae and caimonops best in that order.


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## richoman_3 (Jan 21, 2012)

stunning photos and finds !


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## moloch05 (Jan 22, 2012)

Nice collection of photos, Luzek. I really like the shot of Caimanopes amphiboluroides. Hope to see one of those someday.

Regards,
David


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## luzek (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi david, caimanops amphiboluroides is new to me. This species was quite prevalent in the densely vegetated Mulga woodlands just north of Paynes Find. We must have come at a good time, because every female we sighted was gravid.

regards,
Jack


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## edstar (Jan 22, 2012)

Great finds mate


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## mmafan555 (Jan 23, 2012)

Where were the death adders seen at? And are the common in that area?


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## Niall (Jan 23, 2012)

Great photos!

Looks like we both were up at the same time when the cyclone hit.
We had no luck with womas and BHP because it was full moon when we got up there.

Last trip I did last year, I found both Womas and BHPs. Hit and miss like they say.

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...-studies-5373/pilbara-trip-stood-rest-178552/

Cheers,
Niall


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## luzek (Jan 23, 2012)

Within there habitat i would say they are quite common. conditions permitting e.g a good moon phase and good humidity (80%+). It would be reasonably probable to find several animals in a night.

Cheers Niall,

How funny! We would have almost certainly crossed paths! Your photos of _wellsi _are great! awesome specimens..Did you have any luck with wheeleri around the Panawonica area? It seems we both got dealt a very average moon phase. My mate and i were actually quite lucky on a few nights where the cloud cover was so dense that it completely covered the moon all together. The conditions where we were got so bad in the end that it just would have been a total waste of time continuing any further north, which was a shame and a disappointment as i would have loved to photograph some BHP's and Womas.

Cheers,
Jack


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## Niall (Jan 24, 2012)

Didn't find one wheeleri around panawonica area, it was one of the species to find a photograph.
Always got next time


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## luzek (Jan 24, 2012)

thats it mate theres always next time. p.s whats the trick with posting photos on the pilbara pythons forum? i tried with no success.


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## ssssmithy (Jan 24, 2012)

nice pics mate. love the Wheeleri

smithy.


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## Niall (Jan 24, 2012)

Attachments have got to be lower then 180KB per post.
I just use photobucket, just post the URLs up.


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## luzek (Jan 24, 2012)

yeah it was quite odd, i compressed my jpegs to well under 180KB. still no luck


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## mmafan555 (Jan 24, 2012)

luzek said:


> Within there habitat i would say they are quite common. conditions permitting e.g a good moon phase and good humidity (80%+). It would be reasonably probable to find several animals in a night.
> 
> Cheers Niall,
> 
> ...



Thanks for the reply...Just out of curiosity if I do eventually get to Australia and went herping and I went to the Pilbara...where would be the best place to go look for these Pilbara Death Adders? Would Exmouth be a good place to start out at?


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## hazza88 (Jan 24, 2012)

You was probably around pannawonica area when i was busy working out on the mine doing night shift did you get a chance to see any of the big olive pythons around pannawonica and fortescue river?


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## Niall (Jan 24, 2012)

I was sure looking out for some.
Ended up going to most areas that I know where Olives are found and have been seen, but all we got was massive craps and skin.


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## hazza88 (Jan 24, 2012)

Niall said:


> I was sure looking out for some.
> Ended up going to most areas that I know where Olives are found and have been seen, but all we got was massive craps and skin.



on your way into pannawonica on your left hand side before the turn off to the mine site theres a a sewage farm there and a big 4m resident olive lives there got some good photos ill upload when i can be bothered. We always get them coming onto the hall road at work and we relocated on from the beer garden in town. Too bad you didnt see any theres been heaps out lately


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## jamesjr (Jan 24, 2012)

hazza88 said:


> on your way into pannawonica on your left hand side before the turn off to the mine site theres a a sewage farm there and a big 4m resident olive lives there got some good photos ill upload when i can be bothered. We always get them coming onto the hall road at work and we relocated on from the beer garden in town. Too bad you didnt see any theres been heaps out lately




Please upload, very keen to see some barroni pics.


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## luzek (Jan 25, 2012)

Hi *mmafan555,

I have found **wellsi right through the exmouth area but they are typically less impressive than the animals found further north east. This is probably for a few reasons and one being that it is a possible hybrid zone with A. pyrrhus. this would explain the lighter banding.*


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## mmafan555 (Jan 26, 2012)

Sorry if I'm annoying you! It's just I'm the type of person who asks a lot of questions and is very detail oriented...Sorry if it is annoying 

When you say impressive do you just mean size wise or coloration?


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## luzek (Jan 26, 2012)

Size between the two described population doesn't seem, from personal experience to be drastically different. But pattern and coloration does seem to, in a big way.

Here are some A. wellsi a colleague and i photographed from the exmouth area in january 2011. Very different to the interior colour forms.


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## Treknotechelaps (Feb 17, 2012)

Great pics! 
The wheeleri's have gotta be my fave of the genus too, awesome colours on them.
Also love the Stroph. jeaneae and am anticipating the description of the undescribed Oedura 'marmorata' sp., and the whole revision of the marmorata complex.


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## Jamesss (Feb 17, 2012)

Amazing pics!  very lucky, I need to get out and do some herping when I get the chance, just need to find a 4WD so I don't get bogged every time I go somewhere that looks interesting...


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