# pics from Karijini NP, WA



## moloch05 (Jun 19, 2008)

My son and I visited Karijini National Park in the Pilbara of Western Australia for several days in November, 2005. This park is famous for its beautiful red rock gorges. Some of these gorges have permanent water and of course, where there is water, there is abundant life. 

Here are a few pics of the gorges


















... the habitat above the gorges was dry and hot with Snappy Gums and spinifex. Termite mounds were numerous.










It was very hot in November with temperatures up to 44C. We therefore spent the bulk of the day at the bottom of the gorges where there was shade and water. Nick and I would frequently swim to cool down and then return to ledges where we read until late afternoon when the temperatures dropped a little. Most of our time at Karijini was spent waiting for the night when we could walk the gorges or go night-driving and look for geckos or snakes.

We spent three afternoons in Joffre Gorge:





... my son, Nicholas, on his ledge:






I very nearly stepped on this juvenile Mulga Snake (_Pseudechis australis_) late one afternoon after I emerged from a swim. The snake was on a bare rock near the water and I simply did not expect to see anything then since it still was hot. The little guy was alarmed and had flattened its neck but fortunately, it crawled into cover and did not bite my bare foot.






We walked through Weano Gorge one morning before it was too hot.










A real surprise was finding this emaciated Olive Python (_Liasis olivaceus_) that was soaking in a creek:
















We also enjoyed the Fortescue Falls area. We saw fish (grunters), turtles and monitors among other animals in the water and cattails along the river. Many of the following photos in this post came from this gorge.






Black-headed Monitor (_Varanus tristis_). This is one of my favourite lizards. When I first saw it, it ran and then warily watched me from cover. 






I stood still for a number of minutes and it finally emerged and then ignored me. I like the expression on its face -- it seemed to be relaxed and totally oblivious to me even though I was standing only a couple of meters from it.






Yellow-spotted Monitors (_Varanus panoptes_) were common. Some of these were huge. We often first detected them when seeing the cattails shake as something large moved below out of sight.






Other lizards in the gorges included Long-nosed Dragons (_Amphibolurus longirostris_) like this juvenile (thanks longirostris and pilbarapythons for the help with the identification):





... and adult:






Russet snake-eyed skink (_Cryptoblepharus ustulatus_). were abundant on rocks near the water.











_Egernia formosa_ -- I saw this animal late one day when we climbed into a gorge.






Burton's Snake-lizard (_Lialis burtonis_)






Our night walks in the gorges turned up many Pilbara Gehyras (_Gehyra pilbara_) and many Desert Cave Geckos (_Heteronotia spelea_) (thanks Urodacus, for the help with the id):






Above the gorges, it was hot and we did not see many animals. The most abundant creature was also the most annoying. It was impossible to eat without ingesting a few flies each day ...






We saw a few Central Military Dragons (_Ctenophorus isolepis_) but the most common lizard was the Ring-tailed Dragon (_Ctenophorus caudicinctus_).





















Night drives produced several big Mulga Snakes:






... We saw several Rosen's Snakes (_Suta fasciata_):











Geckos included a few _Strophurus wellingtonae_ and many of the following. I think that they are _Lucasium wombeyi_:











We also saw sleeping Central Military Dragons and Dwarf Bearded Dragons (_Pogona minor_).






Australian Bustard





Dingo






Regards,
David


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## missllama (Jun 19, 2008)

absolutely love the photos especially the waterfall the long nosed dragon the monitors and the dingo!
fantastic  would have been a awsome trip!


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## serpenttongue (Jun 19, 2008)

Awesome pics, moloch. The Yellow Spotted Monitor is a smashing specimen.

p.s. Your son has a cool name.


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## Earthling (Jun 19, 2008)

Very nice pics....I wish I saw more when I was over their, beautifull neck of the woods the Pilbara. Close second to the Kimberly's.


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## MrBredli (Jun 19, 2008)

Amazing pics yet again David. Thank you for sharing!


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## bredli84 (Jun 19, 2008)

good stuff moloch, your threads are always well worth waiting 15mins for the download (thank god i now have broardband).


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## scorps (Jun 19, 2008)

awesome pics


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## moloch05 (Jun 19, 2008)

Thanks, everyone. It is too bad that the Pilbara is so far away. It would be great to visit more often but it is a huge drive from Perth.

Here is a colourful native hibiscus from Karijini:






Regards,
David


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## Dusty62 (Jun 19, 2008)

Thanks Dave that looks absolutly amazing, I wish i could have an experience like that and great photos too.


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## Mr_miyagi (Jun 19, 2008)

Thanks for sharing. I love the second pic of the black headed.


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## warren63 (Jun 19, 2008)

Excellent pictures !!!!


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## OzGecko (Jun 20, 2008)

Thankyou moloch, I always look forward to seeing pictures from your trips.


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## Tim.Arm (Jun 20, 2008)

*Great shoots David.*


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