2023 Summary
I’ve been pretty lazy with the website for most of 2023, but seeing as I’ve just submitted my Honours I’ll hopefully get more done over the next few months. This post will be a bit of a summary for some of the herping I managed to do while avoiding study this year, I just can’t quite be bothered to write up full recountings. Despite having what was supposed to be a full workload I’ve still managed to get out a fair amount in 2023, and even passed off some herping in WA and Qld as research related. Some of my main takeaways for the year are that research is often frustrating, it’s important to have good supervisors, and the evolutionary history of some Gehyra is truly difficult to decipher.
Anyway, below I’ll give a brief summary of a couple different trips I managed and some of my favourite finds from them.
To the Torres Strait (January)
Back before Honours began, Bridget and I met up with Alex in Cairns to do a trip around some islands in the Torres Strait, a plan that’d been in the works for a while. That also meant we had to get to Cairns, so naturally we made a road trip up happen as well.
Kidnapping Angus, we journeyed to the black soil where naturally we didn’t find a Collett’s, although the newly described Eromanga Knob-tail (Nephrurus eromanga) (I must go for vertebralis soon) and some other goodies like a Roma Earless Dragon (Tympanocryptis wilsoni) did put in appearances. We eventually made it all the way out to Isa, getting 2 unexpected Sombre Whipsnakes (Demansia quaesitor) and some of the more usual finds like Gulf Marbled Velvet Geckos (Oedura bella). Turning back east we hit up the wet tropics, including a stroll to the top of Bartle (no frerei sad) and a bunch of frogging.
The Strait was awesome, but disgustingly muggy. One of the biggest highlights were two instant Emerald Monitors (Varanus prasinus), insanely pretty lizards that move through the trees like monkeys. Another favourite were the multitude of Bar-lipped Sheen-skinks (Eugongyus rufescens) which were rather common in rainforest leaf litter, and amazingly large. Mangrove Monitors (Varanus indicus) also proved ridiculously common and we saw well over 20 over the course of a week. All good things have to end though and eventually we returned to Canberra to start Honours a week late.
Measuring Gehyra in Perth (May)
One part of my project involved Gehyra morphology, so Stephen and I went off to Perth to spend two weeks at the WAM collections measuring specimens. We wasted no time on arrival, shooting straight north to begin our first night with Robust Striped Geckos (Strophurus michaelseni). In the museum, we were frequently distracted by holotypes and jars of other cool species, and often left early for afternoon and night time herping sessions. I saw numerous new frogs (Heleioporus are awesome), two new Aprasia (the urge to do a proper WA Aprasia trip is unbelievable), and Reticulated Velvet Geckos (Hesperoedura reticulata) amongst numerous other things just in the Perth region.
For our weekend, we sent it south to Albany and met up with the gun Bryce for some classic south-west herps. Although we failed to find a Short-nosed Snake (Elapognathus minor) (he hid them from us), Bryce found us an amazing amount in under 48 hours. Western Swamp Skinks (Lissolepis luctuosa), Jewelled South-west Ctenotus (Ctenotus gemmula), Heath Delma (Delma hebesa), and Quacking Frogs (Crinia georgiana) (I know, it’s a Crinia, but these things are ridiculous) were just some of the many things we managed to see. I even got over the 600 mark with Lerista distinguenda (nobody can convince me them and elegans are actually different).
Gecko Sampling in the Uplands (July)
Stephen and I snuck away for a second time in July, teaming up with Scott in Townsville, and headed out into the Einasleigh Uplands in search of Heteronotia, Gehyra and Lerista to sample. We started with something I was really keen on seeing, a Hughenden Nubbined Fine-lined Slider (Lerista colliveri). Over about two weeks we worked our way through the uplands, finding the usual suspects; Gilbert Ground Geckos (Lucasium iris), Leaden-bellied Fine-lined Sliders (Lerista vanderduysi), and others, along with my first Gulf Two-lined Dragon (Diporiphora carpentariensis) and Greater Black Whipsnake (Demansia papuensis), neither of which I photographed. Stephen even managed to flip an Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) one morning. Scott produced the goods a few nights later, with a half metre long Robust Burrowing Snake (Antaioserpens albiceps), that made both Stephen and I exceptionally happy. We capped it off with a quick visit to Cooktown (and naturally Black Mountain) and managed to find an Amalosia that would be described shortly afterwards, the Upland Zigzag Gecko (Amalosia nebula).
Other bits and bobs
There were a few other species I managed to find not on trips and that I was particularly happy with. My first Rosy (Varanus rosenbergi) was spotted on, of course, the closest hill to where I live in Canberra, and was the final reptile that makes it into the ACT that I was yet to see. I also dragged Bridget (who was recovering from covid and very keen to herp at the time) along for my fourth and for the first time successful attempt at the Elongate Sunskink (Lampropholis elongata), although I lost it before she could photograph it, whoops. Nick and I spent a romantic couple of days in the Grafton region in May and against all odds managed to find a couple of Heath Shadeskinks (Saproscincus oriarus), a species I’m glad I don’t have to look for anymore. Our attempts for the mysterious Grafton Coerano were less successful. There’s probably more, but for now that’ll do. We’re currently gearing up for a proper red centre trip, so I’ll try and write that before I forget half the things that happened.
