# Herping the Macquarie Marshes (Pic Heavy)



## GeckPhotographer (Feb 23, 2012)

So recently I volunteered with Jo Ocock of UNSW to help with frog abundance surveys in the Macquarie Marshes for her PhD.

It was a great trip and I got to see 13 species of frog and a bunch of new reptiles for me. I also got to take some pictures of some of those which I thought I'd share. 

We mayaswell start with frogs.

Salmon-striped Marsh Frog



Limnodynastes salmini by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Limnodynastes salmini by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Water-holding Frog



Cyclorana platycephela by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A Peron's Tree Frog which of course are also common on the coast but which I wanted more pictures of anyway.



Litoria peronii by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A Desert Tree Frog which are common out there. 



Litoria rubella by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A Rugose Toadlet which we saw a few of on the night it rained. 



Uperoleia rugosa by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Uperoleia rugosa by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Uperoleia rugosa by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

And this frog which when out there we though was Cyclorana verrucosa but which since coming back eipper and another person have helped me identify as Cyclorana cultripes, making it a new frog species for me. 



Cyclorana cultripes by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

For the reptiles we mayaswell start with the worst pictures. Some sort of weird motion blur thing was going on here despite shutter speed of 1/100 and a twin flash which should of held it still. Have to figure out what's going wrong as I had the same problem in WA with C.adelaidensis, anyone with advice appreciated.

Four-pored Earless Dragons are common in more arid areas but are fairly scarce on the floodplain where we were.



Tympanocryptis tetraporophora by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Tympanocryptis tetraporophora by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Bynoes Geckos which I seem to collect photos of wherever I see them hoping they will come in handy one day.



Heteronotia binoei by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

and Dubia Tree Dtella which I've seen before without photographing so another tick in my book, these were very common.



Gehyra dubia by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Gehyra dubia by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Gehyra dubia by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A Tessellated Gecko which if taxonomy went off how they behaved in front of a camera would be placed in the genus Rhyncoedura, absolutely crap to photograph. 



Diplodactylus tessellatus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Diplodactylus tessellatus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Diplodactylus tessellatus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Diplodactylus tessellatus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A Grey Snake which we saw few of most of the trip and then saw 3 of within about 2 minutes on the last night.



Hemiaspis damelli by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Hemiaspis damelli by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Hemiaspis damelli by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A Red-naped Snake, which I count as a new species for me despite having accidentally driven over one a few months back. 



Furina diadema by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Furina diadema by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Furina diadema by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Furina diadema by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

A Eastern Hooded Scaly-foot which I was very happy to find around the house one night.



Pygopus schraderi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Pygopus schraderi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Pygopus schraderi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

And last but most certainly not least (not that I know what was least) a De Vis' Banded Snake one of many that we saw cruising around dam ponds through the trip. We also saw one drag a Peron's Tree Frog down a hole in the ground which I wish I could have photographed. Unfortunately the spectacle lasted barely seconds and my camera gear was not set up. 



Denisonia devisi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Denisonia devisi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Denisonia devisi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Denisonia devisi by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr


I know a few people on here like inverts so I will post pictures of some of the invertebrates collected on the trip.



Hemilychas alexandrinus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Lychas sp. by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

and another one of these Tarantulas, this is the same picture of one I took a week before going.



Selenotholus sp. by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr


Hope you enjoyed the thread. I welcome new contacts on flickr and likes are appreciated if you think it worthy.


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## GeckoJosh (Feb 23, 2012)

Great pics as always mate!!!


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## Rocket (Feb 23, 2012)

Pygopus schraderi = awesome!... that is all.


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## saratoga (Feb 23, 2012)

Terrific shots; seems like you had a great time out there.

Have you got any general landscape/habitat shots of the area?


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## SamNabz (Feb 23, 2012)

Another thread with great pics Steve - well done mate.

Nice array of animals too.

LOVE the _D.tessellatus_ (as you know), and the _Tympanocryptis_.



Rocket said:


> Pygopus schraderi = awesome!... that is all.



Haha, as soon as I saw that pic and noticed you commented in here, I knew it was about the _Pygopus_..!


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## GeckPhotographer (Feb 23, 2012)

Only right on sunset, and there's not much you can see in it. I did some very weird branching out for me and took some people shots though. 



Macquarie Marshes on Sunset by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr



Macquarie Marshes on Sunset by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr


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## AUSHERP (Feb 23, 2012)

Love the Devis mate, great work.


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## GeckPhotographer (Feb 23, 2012)

Oh and thanks for the compliments guys.


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## jedi_339 (Feb 23, 2012)

Great Pics Geck

I love the schraderi, devisi and the damelli.

I also recently found a cultripes which was originally tentatively ID'ed as a verrucosa.


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## moloch05 (Feb 25, 2012)

Wow, lots of excellent photos of many interesting animals!

Regards,
David


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## rum.pig (Feb 28, 2012)

ome great shots in there well done.
Pity about the shake without knowing every thing it is hard to say what has happened there, do you use a tripod or monopod?


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## GeckPhotographer (Feb 28, 2012)

No I don't generally use either.


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## jordanmulder (Feb 29, 2012)

great reptile shots stephen! your sunset shots are crap though ,
I think it is time I come up to your place again before the summer is over!


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