pics from Royal National Park

[salebrosus]

Thank you darling. That lacie is gorgeous. I think i need to get one.

Thanks again Jason

 

[JasonL]

It's a "tiger Morph"

 

[salebrosus]

I would take any morph i can get. ST's have made me want lacies but that one is beautiful.

 

[JasonL]

That one was in the middle of the Royal, it was very young (even looks bigger in the pic), hard to find small lacies wild, normally hiding in trees. All small lacies look pretty, then they go drab.

 

[salebrosus]

I saw a video clip on You Tube by Dr David Kirshner, called Jurassic Apartment. If it turned out like the lacie in that clip, i would be stoked.

 

[JasonL]

Yeah, I've seen his talk a few times, here's a pic from the Royal I took a few years back now, this gravid girl still looks OK, nice colouring around the neck still.

 

[salebrosus]

Awesome!

 

[Magpie]

Here's a wild one

 

[anguskennedy]

Wow! Jason you must have been so lucky to see that gravid girl - did you get to see her dig her nest?

By the way, what is skarrfing??

 

[moloch05]

Thanks for the monitor pics.

Jason,
Do you see Lace Monitors in Royal very often? I rarely see them but then I usually spend most of my time in the heath rather than the eucalyptus woodland.

Ever see Heath Monitors?

Regards,
David

 

[JasonL]

Both are very common, and not hard to find multiples of both on hot days. Heathcote area is a good place to start, both are there in good no's. Pick a really hot day, both sit close to the water. Audley is a good spot for laceys too. Heathies are my favorite though, often they let you sit next to them and take as many pics as you want, 3 foot from them.

 

[Nephrurus]

Great photos Jason, likewise David....

What camera are you upgrading to?

-H

 

[ryanharvey1993]

awsome lacies, do you find many elapids and legless lizards out there?

 

[serpenttongue]

I was in the Royal today and was lucky enough to spend 4 hours with two large Lacies as they foraged and basked. I also spent quite some time with them several weeks ago, along with many others. Very awesome animals and looked just the way i like them - drab, with the only noticeable markings being around the snout and jaw, forearms and tail. Today i was fortunate to observe these two engage in combat for 5 minutes. The slightly larger one won!

Jason, do you find that females and younger specimens dwell in areas where there are no large males? I never seem to see females ( what i suspect are females, that is) or young ones.

 

[salebrosus]

I was in the Royal today and was lucky enough to spend 4 hours with two large Lacies as they foraged and basked. .

HM! Now i know why you haven't answered your phone snobbenttongue!

 

[moloch05]

Beautiful pics, Jason. I will have to try Heathcote NP next summer.

Thanks for the info, serpenttongue.

Ryan,
I rarely see elapids in the park but have come across Red-bellied Black, Brown Snakes, Yellow-faced Whipsnakes by day and Golden-crowned and Small-eyed by night. It will be interesting to hear from others -- maybe there are better places in the park that I don't visit. Once in a great while, I see Common Scaly-foots.

Henry,
Canon 40D with a 17-250 Tamron lens.

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

been on some nice trips into royal national park,quite a few liz species reprezented in abundance

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

jason will be able to tell you some good elapid stories from the park he practicly lives in that park

i havent seen an abundance of snakes there but others have

 

[zulu]

re pics

Yeah, the leech joined me for the walk, I havn't been able to get pics of Sydney juvies, always to quick....

Did you let the leach escape JL or photograhed it just before it got whacked,when i was living down wollongong ide go walk in the rainforrest and come back with some attached that were engorged with blood,ide put them on concrete and hit them with a hammer,worked for me .Ime not at all suggesting JL that you kill the leaches better to find a suitable release site or give them to wires,after all they are protected and the property of her majesty the queen HaHa

 

[moloch05]

Here are a few other herps that I have seen in Royal over the last few years:

Blackish Blind Snake (Ramphotyphlops nigrescens)

Diamond Python (Morelia spilota)

Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis)

Common Scaly-foot (Pygopus lepidopodus)

Red-throated Skink (Acritoscincus platynotum) -- looking very gravid

Copper-tailed Skink (Ctenotus taeniolatus) -- happily snapping up the small ants

Eastern Water Skink (Eulamprus quoyii)

Jacky Lizard (Amphibolurus muricatus) with a huge tick in its ear

... breeding male

Eastern Water Dragon(Physignathus lesueurii)