# Inner City Melbourne Herping



## NickGeee (Aug 3, 2014)

Because of the warmer weather I was drawn to a very close area which had some cool skinks
In a small pocket of parkville lies the closest colony of Liopholis whitii to the cbd, they are very cool little animals!




IMG_3385 by nickgherping, on Flickr
Under a large flat rock i uncovered two sleeping whitii, one an adult and the other a small juvenile.


IMG_3419 by nickgherping, on Flickr


IMG_3418 by nickgherping, on Flickr
And the baby..


IMG_3417 by nickgherping, on Flickr
attempted one of those landscape shots, and failed miserably 


IMG_3394 by nickgherping, on Flickr
I kept hunting, looking for maybe an adult with a different pattern to the one i had previously found.
out of the corner of my eye i saw an adult duck under a large rock.
Carefully i flipped it, and found a whole different species!


IMG_3401 by nickgherping, on Flickr
Having a closer look it appeared to have not much of a nose...


IMG_3407 by nickgherping, on Flickr
Another attempted Landscape shot..


IMG_3409 by nickgherping, on Flickr
Enjoy.


----------



## RoryBreaker (Aug 3, 2014)

Good to see your posting more bluey shots these days, good stuff!

As a bluey keeper, I'm fascinated by the different colour variants of the Easterns.

Also, do you ever come across any blotchies making use of rock or timber cover? I've heard a bit of anecdotal evidence of late they much prefer foliage cover for their winter homes. Any thoughts?


----------



## NickGeee (Aug 3, 2014)

RoryBreaker said:


> Good to see your posting more bluey shots these days, good stuff!
> 
> As a bluey keeper, I'm fascinated by the different colour variants of the Easterns.
> 
> Also, do you ever come across any blotchies making use of rock or timber cover? I've heard a bit of anecdotal evidence of late they much prefer foliage cover for their winter homes. Any thoughts?


Oh really? That's interesting! I have only found blotches in mulch in winter, sounds plausible.


----------



## Vikingtimbo (Aug 5, 2014)

Great pics Nick. I do most of my herping in Suburban Melbourne but I've never come across Liopholis whitii. The Eastern Bluey is a spectacular one. Even in a small area they can vary enormously, and that one is particularly striking.

I come across Blotched and Eastern Blue-tongues constantly during the warmer months, and Easterns also come out regularly in winter if it's sunny and always seem to choose solid cover for their winter homes, like rock crevices or hollow logs. I've never known a Blotchie to come out in winter and don't know for sure where they go. During the warmer part of the year Easterns usually stay close to a rock crevice or disused animal burrow or whatever that they can quickly scuttle into, the same kind of places they spend the winter. Blotchies don't bother with a proper hiding place in summer and just take cover in thick grass or vegetation when threatened, so I suppose it's possible that, like Easterns, they follow similar behaviour into winter and stay hidden in thick vegetation.

It's amazing how different the two species are. Easterns are usually very shy and sensitive to disturbance and usually run for cover if threatened; and they generally tend to avoid wet areas and watercourses. Blotchies on the other hand often barely react to disturbance, and when they do they're much more likely to stand their ground and bluff than Easterns are; and they're happy to live in both wet and dry areas. Easterns tend to become active earlier in the year than Blotchies too. And Eastern Blue-tongues climb occasionally, but I've never seen a Blotchie do that.


----------

