# pics from the Blue Mountains today



## moloch05 (Feb 19, 2008)

I decided to take my son on a walk in the Blue Mountains today before my next work trip tomorrow. We had a great day although the weather was initially wet. We drove over the mountains to Lithgow and then waited until the weather began to improve in the mid-morning. We then returned to the York Lookout area above Mt. Victoria, Pulpit Rock and finally, the spectacular Hanging Rock area. We did not see many reptiles early but there were many lizards active in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we did not see any snakes.

Here are the lizards that we encountered:
Cunningham's Skink (_Egernia cunninghami_) -- habitat






... lizard











These shots were from the Pulpit Rock area. The weather was still cool and we saw no reptiles at all while walking here:











Finally, we headed to the Hanging Rock area. This involved a walk of 4km through eucalyptus forest and a few open, heath habitats. After about an hour, we reached these scenic cliffs.










... a gorgeous place











... Hanging Rock. It is possible for the fearless to walk out onto this incredible formation.






... notice the gap between the main portion of the cliffs and the Hanging Rock formation. There is about a 1m gap so it is not difficult to jump across ... but the drop would be fatal if anything went wrong.













Red-throated Skink (_Acritoscincus platynotus_) -- one of the most common skinks in the area.











Copper-tailed Skink (_Ctenotus taeniolatus_) -- common just above the cliffs.











White's Skink (_Egernia whitii_) -- this one was sleepy and it seemed to be enjoying the afternoon sun.






Mountain Dragon (_Tympanocryptis diemensis_) -- these were numerous and we also saw many young of the year.












_Lampropholis delicata_












_Stylidium_ - we saw two species of trigger plants. This was the larger of the two.


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## moosenoose (Feb 19, 2008)

Great pics! I love the one of the Whites Skink holding its head up in the air


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## Bono888 (Feb 20, 2008)

Fantastic pic's. A pleasure to look at. Thank you for taking the time to post them. You have inspired me to do some walking in the mountains now!


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## natrix (Feb 20, 2008)

Now that , is the real stuff , thanks.


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## Paliadon (Feb 20, 2008)

Great Pics, well done.


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