# Tropical Queensland, Wet Tropics pt 1



## moloch05 (Nov 21, 2009)

My wife and I spent the last 10 days at Mission Beach, Queensland. Mission Beach is a beautiful place and is one of our favourite family holiday destinations. I would highly recommend this area to those of you who visit the tropical north of Queensland. So far, it has escaped the massive resorts that have destroyed some of the other northern towns. It is a great spot for trips to the Great Barrier Reef, walks through the rainforest, day trips to the Atherton Tablelands or just lazing about the pool or the beach.

Mission Beach is located about a 1.5 hours south of Cairns or 2.5 hours north of Townsville. It is part of the region known as the wet tropics. November is the month when the wet season returns to the north but we experienced very little rain. This past year has been unusually dry with only 25mm of rain received during the winter months when 600mm would be expected. The lack of rainfall appears to have affected the reptile and frog numbers and I saw far fewer individuals than I have recorded in earlier years. Butterflies were also not as common or as diverse as I have seen before.

Here are a few photos of the area. 

The beach of Mission Beach:







The view from the lookout at the top of Bicton Hill. From here, Dunk and the family group islands are clearly visible.






The rainforest is not overly tall due to the all too frequent cyclones that strike this area.






View along a creek through the rainforest.












Boyd's Forest Dragon (_Hypsilurus boydii_) -- I saw this dragon on two occasions. One night, I found a sleeping dragon on the side of a tree along the edge of the trail. The following day, I nearly stepped on what I think to be the same dragon as it sat on a rock in the trail. After a few photos, it inflated its dewlap and then bipedeled away into the forest. This was the first time that I have seen a Boyd's in the Mission Beach area. They seem to be more common up in the Atherton Tablelands.
























Cassowary -- While I photographed the Boyd's Forest Dragon, I heard footsteps in the forest. The source remained out of sight, but when it was near, I heard its soft, rumbling call. It then walked off but remained unseen. I returned to the area about 45 minutes later and the source of the noise emerged onto the trail. It was this Cassowary. The bird was in adult plumage but was not overly large and had a fairly small casque. Mission Beach is a great place to see these birds but unfortunately, their numbers are in a decline. I am afraid that in the not too distant future, they will die out due to habitat fragmentation, too many cars and feral animals such as dogs and pigs.

"Macro" shots of the Cassowary. I did not have time to switch lenses.












This was a good indication of Cassowary activity. I think that dietary studies of Cassowaries would be easy. Many of the rainforest plants produce large fruits that appear to be targeted towards dispersal by Cassowaries.






Prickly Forest Skink (_Gnypetoscincus queenslandiae_) -- I was surprised to see one of these skinks at Mission Beach. They are abundant in the Atherton Tablelands but I have not seen one before near Mission Beach.













_Carlia rubrigularis_ -- This species of skink was by far the most numerous reptile at Mission Beach. I did not see nearly as many this year as before but it still was common. These skinks were social and lived in the leaf little of the forest understorey. 













White-lipped Tree Frog (_Litoria infrafrenata_) -- These are the largest of all tree frogs. They were fairly common along the edge of the rainforest. 














Ornate Nursery Frog (_Cophixalus sp_., maybe _C. ornatus_) -- These little frogs were easy to hear but not so easy to observe. I usually found them calling from clusters of dead leaves that had collected at the base of branches a meter or two above the ground. 






Dwarf Tree Frog (_Litoria fallax_) -- I saw a few of these on the road.







_Litoria jungguy _-- The males of this species were particularly photogenic. This was a common frog along creeks or rivers of the area. I usually found males perched on fronds of palms or on small rocks right in the creek bed.





















I found a few species of native fish in the creeks.
1,2 -- Snake-headed Gudgeon
3 -- Jungle Perch and Rainbow Fish
4 -- Rainbow Fish





















These dragonflies were common and brightly coloured.






The following two species of butterflies provide an example of Batesian Mimicry. Photos 1 and 2 are Black-and-White Aeroplane (_Neptis praslini_), a "tasty" member of family Nymphalidae. Photos 3 and 4 are of a Hamadryad (_Tellervo zoilus_), a "distasteful" member of family Ithomiidae. The butterflies are almost identical in pattern but in fly quite differently. The aeroplane flies with quick snaps of the wings followed by a flat-winged glide. The Hamadryad flies with fluttery wing beats more like a Cabbage Butterfly. Aeroplanes usually would land on the upper surface of a leaf whereas Hamadryads usually would land inverted beneath a leaf.
















1. Evening Brown - a Nymphalid that is a good dead leaf mimic.
2. Australian Rustic










1. Blue-banded Eggfly, male.
2. Blue-banded Eggfly, female.










1. Australian Leaf Butterfly -- These are excellent mimics of dead leaves. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a photo of one of these butterflies when it was sitting in leaf litter.










1. Common Oakblue -- An interesting species whose larvae is cared for by Green Tree Ants.
2. Blue sp.









1. Young mantis
2. Plant Hopper (Homopteran)
3. Strange fly that would wave its white-tipped front legs.














Cricket






Spiders. Spider 4 below was killing a fire fly. Fire flies were common along Lacey Creek near Mission Beach. I saw one signalling rapidly and it did not seem to be moving. When I walked over to it, I found that it had been captured by this spider.





















Flame Trees were flowering at Mission Beach and up in the Atherton Tablelands.






The following trees are members of Proteaceae. I believe that they are Macadamia.








1. This vine had strange, potato sized fruits.
2. New stems growing from the base of a forest ginger.









1. A delicate fungus.
2. Phosphorescent fungus. These fungus glowed green on the forest floor, quite an incredible sight.









1,2 -- Cycads were numerous in the rainforest. They were particularly numerous on hillsides such as Bicton Hill.
3 Barringtonia calyptra


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## levis04 (Nov 21, 2009)

Great pics once again mate!


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## Bearded_Lady (Nov 21, 2009)

Fantastic! Amazing find with the cassowary. You are very lucky! And yes they have a massive role in the disperal of seeds in the rainforest, so much so that they are a keystone species in this habitat.


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## redbellybite (Nov 21, 2009)

We (my family) stayed at mission beach for a month when we travelled around Australia ..absolutely loved it and we went over to Dunk Island whilst there ...its an amazing place ...great pictures you have taken ..


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## froggyboy86 (Nov 21, 2009)

Great shots, I'm itching to get back up to FNQ again. Your Cophixalus is indeed C. ornatus, they are cute little frogs. The Litoria fallax is likely to be a Litoria bicolor based on where you found it however call is the most reliable way to distinguish the two.

Aaron


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## jinin (Nov 21, 2009)

You Defiantly have 'the life' i would love to travel taking pics of wild animals,plants and insects it would be awesome!


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## Acrochordus (Nov 21, 2009)

Great report and pictures, im really enjoying the pics of all the butterflies, insect and spiders. Cant wait for the pt2
Thanks Tim.


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## JasonL (Nov 21, 2009)

froggyboy86 said:


> The Litoria fallax is likely to be a Litoria bicolor based on where you found it however call is the most reliable way to distinguish the two.
> 
> Aaron



I agree, my first impressions was that it wasn't fallax too..
David, I used to be amazed at your pics, now I'm just in awe of how much you travel! Most people take four weeks holiday a year, you seem to be at home for four week a year.


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## moloch05 (Nov 21, 2009)

Thanks, all.

Aaron and Jason,
Thanks for the correction. I am posting from Townsville and don't have access to my usual reference sites so thanks for the identification.


Jason,
I have been forced to use 12 weeks of long service leave and I don't intend to waste valuable holidays at home.

Regards,
David


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## cracksinthepitch (Nov 21, 2009)

Great pics again. i'll have a guess on the spiders,pic 1 and 3 are types of Nursery web spiders closely related to wolf spiders, pic 2 female Golden Orb and pic 4 a Wheel weaver.


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## moloch05 (Nov 21, 2009)

Thanks for that, crackintepitch. I know very little about spiders.

Regards,
David


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## jordo (Nov 21, 2009)

Great trip for inverts, although north Qld usually is! Very lucky spotting the lichen huntsman, they camouflage so well.


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## reptilerob (Nov 21, 2009)

Awesome photos mate, and a great report, well done.


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## reptilerob (Nov 21, 2009)

moloch05 said:


> Jason,
> I have been forced to use 12 weeks of long service leave and I don't intend to waste valuable holidays at home.



I'm in the same boat mate, i dont go back until january 14th. Thats if i dont have a career change in the meantime!!


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## moloch05 (Nov 21, 2009)

Thanks, guys.

Jordo,
lichen huntsman -- thanks for the id. I found it when walking into the forest to try and take a pic of a Laced Monitor that was sheltering beneath a Pandanus. I disturbed the spider and saw it move. It did blend in well.

Regards,
David


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## jordo (Nov 21, 2009)

moloch05 said:


> Thanks, guys.
> 
> Jordo,
> lichen huntsman -- thanks for the id. I found it when walking into the forest to try and take a pic of a Laced Monitor that was sheltering beneath a Pandanus. I disturbed the spider and saw it move. It did blend in well.
> ...



Can offer a few more. Mantis is most likely a juv Hierodula majuscula.
The first spider is a giant water spider, Megadolomedes australianus.
And the big orb weaver with the red pedipalps is Nephila edulis (can't remember if edulis is the mallee species or the big tropical one you got but pretty sure).


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## Sock Puppet (Nov 22, 2009)

Great pics! I especially liked the Boyd's & the Cassowary, although my favourite was surely the Snakehead Gudgeon, as I keep a pair of these in an aquarium. Great display specimens I reckon. Others can keep their brightly coloured tropicals & cichlids, give me a nice predatory Aus native any day.
And yes, those are macadamias in your pics.
Thanks for posting such a great set of pics again.


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## gus11 (Nov 23, 2009)

Thanks for help with the identifications, Jordo and Tonsky.

I agree with you about our native fish, Tonsky. I have seen photos of a number of beautiful gudgeons and rainbowfish from the tropics. 

Regards,
David


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## reptileKev81 (Nov 23, 2009)

Great pics! Good report too!
Living in Sydney I don't get to see as much wildlife as I'd like too.
I'd like to thank all you guys with your reports. Gives us city slickers a nice Glimpse of what is out there.


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## DaveK (Feb 4, 2010)

Great pictures.

The "new stems on forest ginger" are in fact _Hornstedtia scottiana_ inflorescences and the bracts remain while fruits form inside. Cut sections of these can be seen at Dave Kimble's Rainforest Photo Catalogue and filter by "Hornstedtia". The fruits and fleshy bracts can be used in cooking, they have a mild ginger flavour suited to Indonesian dishes.

Dave, near Mission Beach


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