# Mustard-bellied Snake and others



## moloch05 (Sep 14, 2009)

Spring is here and on Friday, I heard the raucous calls of Channel-billed Cuckoos for the first time this season (see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped.../580px-Channel-billed_Cuckoo_Sep07_kobble.jpg). This is a great time of the year to head into the hills to photograph reptiles. Yesterday was lovely (27C) and I was able to venture out for an hour in the afternoon and then again for a couple of hours after sunset.

Mustard-bellied Snake (_Drysdalia rhodogaster_) -- Yesterday, I found this small species for the first time in the Wollongong area. I have only seen it once before in the Blue Mountains. I think that it must be uncommon near the coast or at least I do not know how to find it. I would be interested to hear whether others have encountered it in the Illawarra.

The snake was responsive and would elevate its upper body in a manner that was reminiscent of the display of a Golden-crowned Snake (_Cacophis squamulosus_).





































Marsh Snake (_Hemiaspis signata)_ -- this one was about the shed. The colour of the body was odd and more brownish than most that I see here. The pale stripes on the face were also less pronounced than usual. This one would flatten its neck a little, a behaviour that I have not previously noticed.












Mainland Sheoak Skink (_Cyclodomorphus michaeli_) -- My first for the year. These are beautiful skinks with lots of attitude. The skink would elevate its head and then sway from side to side while flicking the tongue. It even charged the camera a few times.






















Blue Mounatins Tree Frog (_Litoria citropa_) -- a beautiful and common species.

















_Litoria wilcoxi_ -- another pretty frog of the area.












Eastern Common Froglet (_Crinia signifera_) -- probably the most common frog by call in this area but they are tiny and hard to see.






Waratah -- more photos of these gorgeous flowers.











Does anyone recognize this species? If is an dd plant with pale, slightly greenish flowers.







Regards,
David


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## Acrochordus (Sep 14, 2009)

Great shoot's David, that _Drysdalia rhodogaster _is amazing, so is the Mainland Sheoak Skink.
Thanks Tim.


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## JasonL (Sep 14, 2009)

Thats a fantastic trip, what a good collection of critters to find... beats my efforts of late


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## froggyboy86 (Sep 14, 2009)

Great photos David, the D. rhodogaster photos are brilliant. I think your frogs would be Litoria lesueuri if they were found in the Illawarra, L. wilcoxi is usually not encountered south of Sydney (the blueish/green spots in the thigh help distinguish this from L. wilcoxi which has yellow spots). 

Aaron


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## ryanharvey1993 (Sep 14, 2009)

amazing pics David, was this all at Mt Kiera? also was it under tin or active.


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## anothergecko (Sep 14, 2009)

Hi David,

In the Illawarra I have only seen one D. rhodogaster, at the top of Macquarie Pass, but further south I have seen them in Kangaroo Valley. Fantastic images.


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## moloch05 (Sep 14, 2009)

Thanks, everyone, for the comments. I appreciate the identification technique info regarding the wilcoxi/lesuerii, Aaron.

anothergecko,
On a different forum, I received similar feedback regarding the _Drysdalia_. It seems that they are rarely encountered in this area.


Regards,
David


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## JasonL (Sep 14, 2009)

David the lesueuri complex were all regarded as the same species a few years back, then were spilt into groups in recent years and you can virtually divide them up by location.


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## eipper (Sep 15, 2009)

Jason,

IN queensland there is a large ovelap zone between jungguy and wilcoxi and an overlap zone between wilcoxi and lesuerii in the Wollongong area.

Cheers,
Scott


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## froggyboy86 (Sep 15, 2009)

eipper said:


> Jason,
> 
> IN queensland there is a large ovelap zone between jungguy and wilcoxi and an overlap zone between wilcoxi and lesuerii in the Wollongong area.
> 
> ...


 
Where is the overlap zone between lesueuri and wilcoxi in the Illawarra Scott? The furthest south I have seen wilcoxi have been in north west Sydney or on the central tablelands. 

Aaron


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## Lewy (Sep 15, 2009)

WOW there are some great shots there!!!


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## Colin (Sep 15, 2009)

fantastic pics as always david.. great finds mate  love the Drysdalia rhodogaster

channel billed cuckoos  how huge are they? when I lived up on acreage at Kenthurst we used to get them waking me up of a morning with their crazy calls.. the female CBC laid in the nest of some currawongs. the currawong was dwarfed trying to feed the cuckoo hatchie in one of the trees next to the house.


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## JasonL (Sep 15, 2009)

eipper said:


> Jason,
> 
> IN queensland there is a large ovelap zone between jungguy and wilcoxi and an overlap zone between wilcoxi and lesuerii in the Wollongong area.
> 
> ...



I was just generallizing Scott, all these types of things have intergrade zones, personally I'm a lumper and ........ .... I havn't heard of wilcoxi being found locally though? not in the lower Syd, upper gong catchment anyway..


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## eipper (Sep 15, 2009)

There is apparently a hybridization zone from around wollongong to the hawksbury river.
Having said that I have only ever seen lesuerii (or lesueuri looking hybrids) from around the gong myself.

Cheers,
Scott


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## moosenoose (Sep 15, 2009)

Wild photographic work! Very nice!!


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## moloch05 (Sep 15, 2009)

Thanks, all.

CBCs are impressive birds ... as big as hornbills. I enjoy their loud calls at night.

I guess that I am old school and am not fond of the current splitting phase of taxonomy. In my uni days (70s), I remember an author of a fieldguide to Central American birds being absolutely hammered in reviews because of his splitting approach to avian taxonomy. Now, recent field guides align fairly well with his ideas. I wonder how long it will take for lumping to return so there are no more problems trying to explain things like "(or lesueuri looking hybrids)"?


Regards,
David


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## tnarg (Sep 15, 2009)

Scott,

I don't think there is a hybrid zone between Litoria wilcoxi and lesueurii, unless there is one somewhere in the blue mountains. Litoria lesueurii occurs south of Sydney and wilcoxii north of the Hawkesbury river, neither of them occur on the cumberland plain, which puts about a 30km gap at least between the two species. In the Wollongong region I have only ever seen L. lesueurii and would be quite surprised to see a wilcoxii there.

Cheers,
Grant


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## gecko-mad (Sep 15, 2009)

how common are she-oaks in the wild and captivity? my guess is not much, would i be right?


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## JasonL (Sep 15, 2009)

She oaks are very common in the wild in certain spots, even in the middle of suburbia.... you just have to know these spots...a few people I know keep them as well...a little difficult to breed as they tend to kill each other.


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## zulu (Sep 15, 2009)

*re Mustard*



JasonL said:


> She oaks are very common in the wild in certain spots, even in the middle of suburbia.... you just have to know these spots...a few people I know keep them as well...a little difficult to breed as they tend to kill each other.



When Graeme Gow was at the AHS way back we had a slide night and he showed a she oak skink from near mascot,not having seen any i enquired and told me they were at the back of the factory where he worked and he felt a bit guilty about using them as snake food. they are abundant in some areasnorth of wollongong ide often run them over with the lawnmower on the back block of land we have.


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## moloch05 (Sep 16, 2009)

I went out for a walk after work a couple of times this week and photographed a few more animals.

I think that this is a female Sydney Funnel Web Spider due to the elongated spinerets. Is that correct?












Eastern Small-eyed Snake (_Cryptophis nigrescens_) -- preparing to shed:






... a tiny juvenile:







Three-toed Skink (_Saiphos equalis_)







Weasel Skink (_Saproscincus mustelinus_):







... and a pretty pea:







Regards,
David


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## ryanharvey1993 (Sep 17, 2009)

do you ever see weasel skinks active at night? we found one at dusk at lane cove last time we were at sydney.


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## JasonL (Sep 17, 2009)

I have weasel's all around my house Ryan, they require cold conditions and live under the house by day, I could go under there now and move some brick and find them, yes, I have seen them hunting at night, usually around lit areas, not often though.


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## zulu (Sep 17, 2009)

*re Mustard*

The she oak skinks are partly nocturnal,there was one running about on the shore of lake illawarra when we were prawning during the summer early one night.


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## moloch05 (Sep 17, 2009)

Hello Ryan,

When the weather is hot, they seem to be crepuscular. In the summer, I see them along the ring track of Mt. Kiera right at dusk.

Regards,
David


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