With the end of 2020 just around the corner, an unpredictable and often disappointing year for most, I was ready to send it off with a bang. My good friend Nick was similarly keen to get the hell out of his hometown of Melbourne for a few weeks and continue our constant quest for small brown lizards. Our plans had changed too many times to count over the last few months as we tried to lock in ideas around changing covid restrictions. However, we finally settled on a trip that would take us around most of NSW, hopefully with some of SA tacked on. Much to everyone’s disappointment, Justin wouldn’t be able to join us this time, but we’ll hopefully be making up for that soon. After what seemed an endless wait, uni was finished, Nick and I were both in Narrabri and the car was packed. I could already tell it was going to be a good one.

The East Side

For the first half of our trip, Nick and I settled on exploring much of the rainforest of north-east NSW in search of both reptiles and frogs. I’d been in the area only a few months before, but there were still two frogs I was looking forward to finding, as well as some of the few reptiles I still hadn’t seen in the eastern half of the state. For Nick, much of it would be uncharted territory, always an exciting thought for a herper. However, before we could head off, we had one night in Narrabri to attempt to find some elusive species for Nick. Here. We. Go.

Narrabri to Casino (23rd - 26th of November)

Day 1

Sleep deprivation is one of the biggest problems whilst tripping around, it can be extremely frustrating to have to stop spotlighting or road cruising because you’re just too tired. As such, Nick and I thought we’d have a quick look around Narrabri on night 1 followed by an early bed time. Or so we thought.

Heading out on dark, we met up with Tyler for our ‘quick’ spotlight. With the three of us searching, I was feeling optimistic for our chances of a Pale-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bitorquatus). As usual though, our expectations and results differed dramatically and we finished an hour later with only numerous gecko sightings on the surrounding red gums. Defeat is always a bitter taste and we weren’t going to take it lying down, so off we went to see what else we could find. Over two hours later we emerged victorious, with Tyler managing to spotlight two huge Grey Snakes (Hemiaspis damelii) and road cruise a Coral Snake (Brachyurophis australis), two of the best species found in the local area. With our egos comfortably restored we headed for bed. It was almost 1 am by the time we got there.

Day 2

We were up and off early the next morning with numerous spots to reach and explore before nightfall. Our first stop wasn’t far away and we soon had the target in hand, a legless lizard that had eluded me for some time, the Leaden Delma (Delma plebeia). Several hours later and we pulled into an unremarkable TSR where I’d hoped to get a glimpse of one of our rarest birds, the Regent Honeyeater. Nick wandered off looking a little confused as to why we’d attempt to see anything feathered as I pottered around, a thought which was compounded by my inability to spot one. Cursing the inferior feathered species, we headed for the hills. Our final stop before reaching our end goal north of Tenterfield was some rocky areas known to play host to some slightly odd Tree Skinks (Egernia striolata). Why they’re odd I can’t remember, but Nick had gained a keen interest in the genus with an upcoming uni project. Said skink did not prove hard to find and with a short stop in Tenterfield for the usual blue top Dare Iced Coffee’s we were close to our first night goal.

Boonoo Boonoo and Basket Swamp National Parks are seldom visited by herpers, as most species found there can be seen elsewhere. However, we were after a particular frog which I’d heard had been seen around, more on that later. With a lot of afternoon light remaining, we explored around Boonoo Boonoo in an attempt to find a Brown-backed Yellow-lined Ctenotus (Ctenotus eurydice). Hot and dry conditions didn’t seem to work in our favour and we retreated to the wetter forests of Basket Swamp as the day dragged on. A short crawl around some rocks produced numerous Cunningham’s Skinks (Egernia cunninghami). This species can currently be broken into several forms and will likely eventually be split into distinct species, of which these were the attractively blotched New England ones. Unfortunately, none were considerate enough to stop for a photo, but they dragged out enough time that it was close to dark.

Returning to a previously scoped out water way we waited for dark and began spotlighting. The Peppered Tree Frog (Litoria piperata) was initially described from the New England region but hasn’t been officially sighted since the 1970’s. In more recent years, spotted forms of Pearson’s Tree Frog (L. pearsoniana) have been found slightly further north that look suspiciously similar to the original Peppered Tree Frogs. However, due to the preserved state of the Peppered Tree Frog specimens, it cannot currently be conclusively proven whether they were simply spotted forms of the more easterly Green Stream Frogs, or if they were indeed their own unique species. It was these odd spotted frogs that we were here to see. Fire had torn through the area during the previous catastrophic season but after walking upstream a short way it wasn’t long before we heard the occasional one calling. I spent the next good while cursing as I tried to photograph them. Despite being attractive frogs, they were not in the mood for a photoshoot. With a largely successful first day under our belts, we headed for the main road again, with a slight detour for some Granite-belt Leaf-tailed Geckos (Saltuarius wyberba). A very quiet stretch of road cruising saw us setting up camp at Liston not too long after.

Day 3

Our next stop was our first proper foray into rainforest for the trip, with some nearby records of Three-toed Snake-toothed Skink (Coeranoscincus reticulatus) having caught our eye. However, large fossorial skinks remained elusive, although several much smaller Truncate Worm-skinks (Ophioscincus truncatus) did put in an appearance. One more quick stop remained before we made it to the perfectly named Woodenbong, with a visit to some nearby fence posts. Following the trail of a recently lodged record of Cunningham’s Skink, we found a large female that was too rotund to easily get away, and she joined us for some photos. Individuals from this area are assigned to the McPherson Range form and are rather dark.

Buoyed by our easy success, we turned towards the Border Ranges. I’d been rather disappointed by the area several months before, but with warmer temperatures I was feeling optimistic. After successfully navigating the windy but scenic road up, we’d arrived at the gully which I hoped held my last Philoria (for the time being). Making our way upstream, their muffled croaks soon surrounded us, where previously I’d heard nothing but wind. It wasn’t too long after and the small brown goober was finally visible to the naked eye. This species can likely be classed as the plainest of the group but I was stoked nonetheless, 6 months previously I wouldn’t have thought it possible that I would see all NSW species before the end of the year. It was a definite frogging high.

With daylight slowly retreating, Nick and I settled in and waited for dark over steaming bowls of tortellini, the best sort of almost instantly preparable camping food. With our main frog target safely secured, we had the next 36 hours on the range to attempt to find several skinks and snakes. Unfortunately, the weather that night decided not to play ball and the temperature dropped rapidly, giving me instant flashbacks to how cold it had been last time I was there. We still tried our luck road cruising, but a tiny Marsupial Frog (Assa darlingtoni) was all that was to be found.

Day 4

Perhaps the most sought-after target for both Nick and I on the east side of our trip I’ve already mentioned, the Three-toed Snake-tooth Skink (C. reticulatus). This large, limb-reduced, fossorial skink has a relatively wide distribution across patches of rainforest in north-east NSW and south-east QLD, but is seldom seen. We’d looked for them before without luck but waking up that morning we were determined to use all our up and go fueled energy to find one. Anyway, with that rambling about a gorgeous skink out of the way, lets get back to it. We’d decided to spend the whole day bumbling our way around the national park and that was precisely what we did. Numerous skinks followed, with many Murray’s Skinks (Karma murrayi), Scute-snouted Calyptotis’ (Calyptotis scutirostrum), Challenger’s Shade-skinks (Saproscincus challengeri) and Truncate Worm-skinks (Ophioscincus truncatus) about. We also turned up several Rainforest Cool-skinks (Harrisoniascincus zia), a species Nick hadn’t seen before and I hadn’t photographed, three Tryon’s Skinks (Karma tryoni) and an Angle-headed Forest Dragon (Lophosaurus spinipes) which I accidentally knelt on a stinging tree leaf to photograph. Our main target remained elusive. With the day drawing on we hadn’t given up, but we retreated to Kyogle briefly for some more dares. We’d make our final run back up the range that evening to give the snakes and a certain skink our last shot.

With the evening setting in, we returned to the mountains and waited for the appropriate hours. Tensions were high as we jumped back in the ute and flicked on the light bar, it was significantly warmer than the night before but we didn’t want to jinx it. After only cruising for a short while, I mashed the brakes and jumped out, I thought I’d seen something on Nick’s side but it hadn’t looked right for a snake. I rounded the car and there it was, a beautifully long and thick skink with its head periscoped in the air, looking very bemused at the sight of us. We’d done it, a Coerano was ours and celebrations ensued. Without wasting too much time of the precious early hours of cruising we were off again, only to round another corner and spot a second one on the road. We couldn’t believe our luck, two skinks had made the perfect night. It did seem though that we had used all our herping tokens to find our goal, with the rest of the night quiet bar a Coastal Carpet Python (Morelia spilota). Nevertheless, it was happy herpers that made their way back down the range later that night (with a last minute appearance of a Bandy Bandy (Vermicella annulata)) before camping at Casino.

Rainforest and Bronzebacks (Part 1)

The East Side

Narrabri to Casino (23rd - 26th of November)

Rainforest and Bronzebacks (Part 2)

Townsville 2020 (Part 5)