chillagoe

[gus11]

This weekend i was invited caving in Chillagoe, about 2 hours west of cairns. thought it would be fun and of course there was the chance for some new herps.
on the way north we had to release this 3m carpet python

unfortunately the car broke down on the palmeston, so it took us 2 hours to crawl up the palmeston to milla milla before we were rescued and taken to chillagoe.
It was a beautiful place.

and the weather was perfect for herping,

but due to car issues we couldnt go for a night drive so had a quick search around chillagoe itself.
i dont know what this frog is....thoughts?

we also managed to find nactus cheverti

and the highlight of the trip, ring tailed geckoes

gehyra dubia

litoria rubella were everywhere

and ornate burrowing frogs were present

the caving was also incredible, few animals found in the caves other than bats but it was good fun, although a little scary climbing through some of those holes.

the lions head

eulamprus sp.

We had to stay in cairns whilst the car was fixed, so watched shore birds in the morning before heading off to show my friends some herps they wanted to see
prickly forest skinks

which have prickly skin

and a skink that had previously evaded me, though this was the best i could get without disturbing it
eulamprus tigrinus

we also found this strange little aphid type things...i dont know what they are

 

[Sturdy]

ripper pictures mate, love the lighting shot.

 

[herpkeeper]

Some excellent pics there, wicked lightning shot !
I think your mystery frog is Litoria Nasuta ( striped rocket frog)

cheers HK.

 

[ad]

Thanks for sharing, great pics!
Cheers
Adam

 

[dtulip10]

wicked pics.
cheers Dayle

 

[redbellybite]

I have been to the caves there ,and found out I dont like being in dark cavey places
anyway it was great overall ..my kids loved it especially leaving me in the dark on my own, knowing I knew that there are big bloody SPIDERS in there ....anyway that was years ago ...
great pics too ...

 

[thals]

Wow, looks like quite a stunning place to have visited, pics are fantastic

 

[StephenZozaya]

Just thought I'd add a panorama of the area southeast of Chillagoe. I took this while Gus was busy getting his excellent lightning photo. During most of the year the Chillagoe area is very dry and brown. During the wet season it turns a beautiful green due to the large amount of rainfall. The steep hills in this photo are towers of limestone karst. Unfortunately my herp photos aren't nearly as good a quality as Gus' so I'll just leave it at this panorama.

Stephen

 

[-Andrew-]

The unknown frog looks like it is just Limnodynastes peronii (striped marsh frog)

 

[itbites]

Wow looks like a stunning place to visit!

Great pics also, thanks for sharing..

 

[SNAKEBOY33]

Great spot spent 2 weeks in the caves an hour or two north of chillagoe crawled through a tiny hole across from an old grave site. Half way in with nowhere to go came face to face with a large snake scared 10 years off my life.