SA Dragons Jan/Feb 2022 (Part 1)
I’ve been a little quiet with the entries lately but I thought I better get around to writing up the first big trip of 2022 eventually. I did get out herping again with a quick tour through SE Qld for some random species back in December but for several reasons, I won’t be featuring that trip here. The first half of 2022 will be my final months based in the south east before making the move to Townsville for further university work. I’ve done pretty well in the area (with the exception of Tasmania) over the last few years, with very few unseen species remaining in NSW and Vic. SA was/is a different story, with Nick and I’s trip back in December of 2020 my only experience with the state. It was therefore the logical place to go, with plans to focus on the Adelaide area, a little of the Eyre, a few days on the Nullarbor and then back through the mallee regions, with Coober tacked on if we had time. Naturally, it preceded to bucket rain across much of central SA just before we left, but there’s nothing we could do about that.
Canberra to the SA/WA Border (31st-4th)
Day 1
Leaving Canberra at 4:30 am on our first morning, we shot southwards into Vic. Our first target was nowhere near SA and it was just before midday when we arrived in Wombat SF north-west of Melbourne. We were here for the recent range extension by Nick of the Montane Skink (Liopholis montana). I’d previously seen the species several times in the ACT, in habitat where they were relatively impossible to get close to. It was with some relief that I tracked down a sub-adult for photos, along with numerous sightings of other individuals.
Turning westwards, we raced daylight to the SA border, arriving at the Limestone Coast in the early evening. A beautiful but skiddled Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) set the tone for our first stop, with the heat and our exhaustion leaving us Aprasialess. A quick detour followed before we headed a little inland to the scattered fragments of habitat in which the SA Aprasia species currently classified under the Eared Worm-lizard (Aprasia aurita) persists. Fortunately, and despite the dry conditions, we managed to turn up three, along with several South-eastern Sliders (Lerista bougainvilii) and Four-toed Earless Skinks (Hemiergis peronii), a few Robust Ctenotus (Ctenotus robustus) and a sub-adult Eastern Brown (Pseudonaja textilis). Happy with our finds, we drove off to find camp, finding another small Brown and Tiger along the way.
Day 2
Heading north the next morning, we made our way past the Coorong to the Adelaide Hills in search of our next round of pygopods. It didn’t take long to find the first, a Lined Worm-lizard (Aprasia striolata). A short while later we were joined by a local herper Harry and continued our search for the other two targets in the area. Despite searching for close to two hours and finding several sheds, we came up empty for the other pygopod, the seemingly elusive Adelaide Delma (Delma molleri). We did a little better with the final species, spying a female Tawny Dragon (Ctenophorus decressii), rounding out the morning with mixed success.
Continuing along the coast, we made a small detour to flip some rubbish hoping for a Spectacled Hooded Snake (Suta spectabilis). Given it’d been a relatively warm, sunny day, we were unsurprisingly unsuccessful, although I did find a decent sized Texti that took off between Bridget’s feet before disappearing. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived at the place I’d previously seen Saltbush Slender Bluetongues (Cyclodomorphus venustus) and we set about with the rakes. Bridget eventually came up with the goods, finding an immaculate adult amongst the samphire that was very squiggly for photos. With darkness descending, we retreated to a nearby gorge to cook dinner, followed by a spotlight. Although I had vague hope for a Flinders carpet, we only found the usual suspects, with many Southern Rock Gehyra (Gehyra lazelli), Thick-tailed Geckos (Underwoodisaurus milii) and Bynoe’s Geckos (Heteronotia binoei) on the move, along with a lone Southern Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus intermedius).
Day 3
In typical fashion, we had a few kilometres to cover the next morning to get to Port Lincoln, although not before flipping a lot of tin for a lone Yellow-faced Whipsnake (Demansia psammophis). Last time I’d been to Port Lincoln NP, Nick and I had been blown around the cliffs by a howling southerly, but fortunately enough, the weather was much more mild this time around. I soon found the skin of a Peninsula Brown Snake (Pseudonaja inframacula) and was hopeful we’d have good luck for the day. However, after several hours of investigating cushion bush, the hope had slowly drained away and we were left with only a few Marble-faced Delma (Delma australis) and an active Shingleback (Tiliqua rugosus) to show for our efforts. Preventing a complete loss, we did spy several Bull Skinks (Liopholis multiscutata) on our way out, a relieving site. One necessary stop for seafood later and we made our way up the western Eyre to Elliston for the night.
Day 4
Another big day of driving was before us the next morning, although not before a quick, failure of a search for Bight Sliders (Lerista arenicola). Our end goal for the day was to make it to the WA border to juggle the times we’d arrive at spots to best suit the forecast. It was early afternoon by the time we were west of the Nullarbor Roadhouse and I began to spy our first herps, numerous Shinglebacks at the edge of the road. Soon enough, one didn’t seem quite right and I swung around for a feisty Western Bluetongue (Tiliqua occipitalis), my second individual of the species. Somehow, we subsequently made it almost to the border before Bridget spotted our first dragon, but it was a good one. A large Mallee Dragon (Amphibolurus norrisi), which naturally shot straight off into the roadside veg.
Fortunately for us, shortly after turning off onto a side track another Mallee Dragon crossed the road. We convinced her to stop for photos but she was extremely sulky. Our subsequent raking session was also short as I lacked the enthusiasm for a serious attempt at a Bayne’s Slider (Lerista baynesi), they’d have to wait for next time. Bridget did find another dragon while we poked around, a small and swift Spotted Military Dragon (Ctenophorus maculatus). Continuing down the track towards the ocean the weather started to cool off. As a result, we spied no Eastern Heath Dragons (Ctenophorus chapmani) among the stunted veg, although I did find a Little Long-tailed Dunnart active in broad daylight. Hopping back into Ernie, the sound of the engine startled a small, pretty and rather annoyed Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis) from some thick veg, a welcome find to round out the arvo.
After a quick detour to the border roadhouse to bother the police blockade for some ice and drinks, as well as our third Mallee Dragon on the road, we retreated to one of the many lookouts to cook dinner. A quick spotlight in the early evening produced several Nullarbor Marbled Geckos (Christinus alexanderi) and a pretty Nullarbor Slender Bluetongue (Cyclodomorphus melanops siticulosus). A quick round of photos later and we headed back east to camp closer to the Nullarbor Roadhouse.
Day 5
Warm and sunny conditions the next morning meant I was hopeful our dragon targets for the day wouldn’t be hard to find as we began cruising some dirt tracks. A brief stop at some tin yielded the first, a fresh hatchling and an adult Nullarbor Earless Dragon (Tympanocryptis houstoni). Cruising back towards the highway we had our eyes peeled, investigating as many bushes and stumps as possible for a basking beardy. Our efforts proved to be overkill, with our first Nullarbor Bearded Dragon (Pogona nullarbor) sitting proudly in the middle of the road. The final find came in the form of a surprising day active Common Scalyfoot (Pygopus lepidopodus) which we spied shooting across the road.
A celebratory coffee back at the roadhouse followed before we headed to some nearby cliffs for our third and final planned target of the day. A well known boardwalk and its resident Bight Crevice Skinks (Egernia richardi) were our goal and it didn’t take long to find a large, gravid female along with several Painted Dragons (Ctenophorus pictus). With our days targets observed, we headed off to some nearby cliffs, although not before bringing our beardy count to five. Our cliffside stop to while away the afternoon ended up providing only a few reptiles, with track the in and out proving much more fruitful with numerous Painted Dragons and 32 Shinglebacks. Our final herp came that night, with a Prong-snouted Blindsnake (Anilios bituberculatus) crossing the track on the way to camp.
