# Brigalow Belt pics



## smacdonald (Jan 31, 2009)

This year I've been out to the southern brigalow belt twice. Once to look for pale-headed snakes (which slacker has already mentioned), and another time to look for yakka skinks. Both trips were successful. My yakka skink trip took place over the long weekend, and I saw three new species (new to me, not new to science) so it was highly successful.

Here are some pics, with not much commentary (I'm just wasting a few minutes while I wait for a camera battery to charge).






Pale-headed snake (_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_)






Pale-headed snake (_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_)






Pale-headed snake (_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_)






Pale-headed snake (_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_)






Pale-headed snake (_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_)






Pale-headed snake (_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_)






Pale-headed snake (_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_)






Pale-headed snake (_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_)






Eastern bearded dragon (_Pogona barbata_)






Lace monitor (_Varanus varius_) - Bell's form






_Lerista rhodonoides_






Robust velvet gecko (_Oedura robusta_)






_Moretha boulengeri_ male showing throat in breeding colour






_Moretha boulengeri_ male showing throat in breeding colour






_Cyclorana verrucosa_






Eastern snapping frog (_Cyclorana novaehollandiae_)






Spotted marsh frog (_Limnodynastes tasmaniensis_)






Road-killed grey snake (_Hemiaspis damelli_). She was gravid with about 10 near-term babies. They're all in the Queensland Museum now.






Road-killed grey snake (_Hemiaspis damelli_). She was gravid with about 10 near-term babies. They're all in the Queensland Museum now.






Road-killed grey snake (_Hemiaspis damelli_). She was gravid with about 10 near-term babies. They're all in the Queensland Museum now.













Brigalow scrub






Brigalow scrub






Country road






Yakka skink (_Egernia rugosa_)






Red-naped snake (_Furina diadema_)






Broad-banded sand-swimmer (_Eremiascincus richardsonii_)






Broad-banded sand-swimmer (_Eremiascincus richardsonii_)






Broad-banded sand-swimmer (_Eremiascincus richardsonii_)






Broad-banded sand-swimmer (_Eremiascincus richardsonii_)






Broad-banded sand-swimmer (_Eremiascincus richardsonii_)










Dunmall's snake (_Furina dunmalli_). The highlight of the trip! These snakes are quite rare, and people wait their whole lives to see one. It's a shame they're so damn ugly.





Dwyer's snake (_Parasuta dwyeri_)






Dwyer's snake (_Parasuta dwyeri_)






Burns' lashtail dragon (_Amphibolurus burnsi_)






Burns' lashtail dragon (_Amphibolurus burnsi_)






Spotted black snake (_Pseudechis guttatus_)






Spotted black snake (_Pseudechis guttatus_)






Spotted black snake (_Pseudechis guttatus_)






Eastern spiny-tailed gecko (_Strophurus williamsi_)






Holy Cross frog (_Notaden bennetti_)






Holy Cross frog (_Notaden bennetti_)






Sand goanna (_Varanus gouldii gouldii_)






Eastern blue-tongued skink (_Tiliqua scincoides scincoides_)






De Vis' banded snake (_Denisonia devisi_)






De Vis' banded snake (_Denisonia devisi_)


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## moosenoose (Jan 31, 2009)

A REALLY incredible series of photographs! Superb!


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## W.T.BUY (Jan 31, 2009)

wow thats heaps of herps you saw.


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## LauraM (Jan 31, 2009)

wow! nice photos.. that holy cross frog is soo fat  lol


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## thals (Jan 31, 2009)

Wow, what an awesome plethora of pics from a truly great destination to explore, thanks so much for sharing!


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## m.punja (Jan 31, 2009)

great pics as usual. i love the look in the de vis' bandeds, would love to get some one day for a play. They look so alert and on the edge, paranoid sort of. The pale headed is also very cute as is the yakka skink, the burns lashtail dragons look very similar to jacky/tree dragons, are they roughly the same size?

Thanks again for the pics


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## kel (Jan 31, 2009)

great pics, it amazes me how many species you guys see when you go herping, how long does it take to get all those pics?


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## ad (Jan 31, 2009)

Great pics, thanks for sharing 
Cheers
Adam


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## smacdonald (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks for all the kinds words, everyone.



m.punja said:


> the burns lashtail dragons look very similar to jacky/tree dragons, are they roughly the same size?



Yep, about the same size. The one pictured above was a subadult.



kel said:


> how long does it take to get all those pics?



I spent two nights and two days out there. How long I spend photographing an individual animal depends on how long the animal will stay still for. if it bolts, there's not much I can do about it.


Stewart


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## Fuscus (Jan 31, 2009)

welcome to the _dunmalli_ club  Great photos


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## smacdonald (Jan 31, 2009)

Fuscus said:


> welcome to the _dunmalli_ club



Your recent find spurred me on! I wasn't leaving that area without finding one!


Stewart


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## cris (Jan 31, 2009)

Great photos  I had never heard of the name "Eastern Snapping Frog" i will use that from now on.


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## krusty (Feb 1, 2009)

great shots and looks like you had a great trip.


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## Smithers (Feb 1, 2009)

Mad pics thanks for posting,...


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## hallie (Feb 1, 2009)

Love the eastern spiny tail gecko and the holy cross frog!

Great photography...


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## Specks (Feb 1, 2009)

Eastern bearded dragon (_Pogona barbata_)

someone stole my beardie. dead set that looks exactly the same as mine. same size same patter and exact same colour. everything is the same as mine.:shock:btw this is a quote of the original poster


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## dougie210 (Feb 1, 2009)

sweet pictures!!! Love the snakes!!!


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## ryanharvey1993 (Feb 12, 2009)

nice stewart, not many geckos about?


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## smacdonald (Feb 12, 2009)

ryanharvey1993 said:


> nice stewart, not many geckos about?



Hi Ryan,

I only posted a few of the pics I took. On these two trips we saw:

Robust velvet gecko (_Oedura robusta_)
_Gehyra_ sp.
_Heteronotia binoei_
_Lucasium stenodactylum_
_Strophurus williamsi_


Stewart


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## ryanharvey1993 (Feb 12, 2009)

oh ok, you see 2 types of dtella or just one, we actually bothered to ID the ones we found at warrumbungles, before then we always guessed by the pattern, is there a simpler way of ID them then looking at the toes, it gets annoying as some of the dtellas are small and they are very fast. have you got any more trips planned that we can look foward to?


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## BlindSnake (Feb 12, 2009)

Excellent shots, great detail, thanks for posting..

Did you help out the Spotted Black Snake with it's dirt packed eye?


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## twodogs (Feb 12, 2009)

love the pics, thanks..
Looking at these, it makes me sad to think amongt the devistation and human toll of the vic fires,just what the toll is on the wildlife as well.


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## smacdonald (Feb 12, 2009)

BlindSnake said:


> Did you help out the Spotted Black Snake with it's dirt packed eye?



Nope. I wasn't going to get that close to it. I'm sure he was fine the next time it rained.


Stewart


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## i_LoVe_AnImAlS (Feb 12, 2009)

Awesome!!!!:d


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## smacdonald (Feb 12, 2009)

ryanharvey1993 said:


> oh ok, you see 2 types of dtella or just one, we actually bothered to ID the ones we found at warrumbungles, before then we always guessed by the pattern, is there a simpler way of ID them then looking at the toes, it gets annoying as some of the dtellas are small and they are very fast. have you got any more trips planned that we can look foward to?



No trips planned for the immediate future. Hopefully some work up at Mt Isa, but nothing's definite yet. Actually, I went to Lamington NP last weekend and found some leaf-tailed geckos and a Stephens' banded snake. I'll post pics eventually.

I know of no easy way to ID dtellas in the field. They annoy me. A lot. If you find a good way, make sure you let me know!


Stewart


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## syxxx (Feb 15, 2009)

Great photos 
Looking forward to the Leaf Tails


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## nathancl (Feb 17, 2009)

hey stewart 

where out there did you find stenodactylum ????? i havent seen them out that way yet ?

cheers
natty


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## smacdonald (Feb 17, 2009)

nathancl said:


> where out there did you find stenodactylum ?????



That was a typo on my behalf. I meant _Lucasium steindachneri_. Please accept my sincerest apologies for the error. I will issue you with a full refund if you like.


Stewart


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