The Great Gehyra Hunt (Part 2)
Karratha to Exmouth and then back to Nanutarra (23rd-26th of October)
Day 8
Leaving Karratha behind the next morning, the team headed for the fabled North West Cape. The drive took most of the day and was extended slightly by some dragoning, with uncountable numbers of Western Ring-tailed Dragons (Ctenophorus caudicinctus) littering the raised rocks alongside the highway. After eventually leaving the stony country, we made another quick stop in the sand dunes and were soon rewarded with numerous sightings of the Rufus Sand Dragon (Ctenophorus rubens), although none let us close enough for photos. It was late afternoon by the time we rolled into Exmouth and unloaded our gear at our accommodation for the next three nights.
Not wasting much time, we were back in the troopy and heading around and down the western side of the cape for our sampling target, the North West Cape Gehyra (Gehyra capensis). However, before we could begin spotlighting we had some daylight to use and set about trying to find some of the more fossorial inhabitants of the limestone and sand dunes. Most proved a little difficult to track down, but Scott managed to find a lone Western Worm Lerista (Lerista praepedita) before darkness fell. Howling winds and cool temperatures did not help with our sampling either, with the Gehyra proving difficult to catch in numbers. After several hours we had a little under ten males, and had come across several other species including a Cape Range Clawless Gecko (Crenadactylus tuberculatus) and an Unpatterned Robust Slider (Lerista macropisthopus). Unlike the relatively low numbers of reptiles on the move, mammals were out in force, with local Black-flanked Rock Wallabies emerging from the fig trees en masse, along with a Kaluta, Stripe-faced Dunnart and several Spinifex Hopping Mice.
Cruising back towards our accommodation proved surprisingly productive despite the cool temps and late hour. Several Northern Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus ciliaris) were found crossing the road, along with my first couple of Western Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus strophurus). The best find took a few more kilometres to meet but we eventually stopped for a suspiciously orange, snake-shaped object to find a perfect, tiny Pilbara Death Adder (Acanthophis wellsi). Scott was particularly happy to find the tiny noodle and we all grabbed some quick photos as it proved to be a very obliging model. Two Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (Nephrurus levis)l and another unfortunately squashed Pilbara Adder accompanied the rest of the way back before we turned in for another late night.
Day 9
We all spent much of the next day sleeping and hunting the streets of Exmouth for coffee, fried chicken and sushi and it was late in the arvo before we pulled ourselves together for more herping. Swapping out the low lying country for hills, we headed into the aesthetic limestone gorges at the centre of the cape. I’m still not quite sure how they managed to get a bulldozer in to make the track without it tumbling down one of the many cliffs, but it made for an impressive drive to the top. We spent the last minutes of sunlight huddled against the gale, with Scott catching a fleeting glimpse of a likely North West Cape Delma (Delma tealei). It was another cool and windy night but fortunately we only needed a couple of North West Cape Gehyra to take us to the necessary ten and it didn’t take long to find them. More excitingly, we also came across two Cape Range Stone Geckos (Diplodactylus capensis) along with several more Cape Range Clawless Geckos, all still frustratingly missing original tails.
With our work for the night accomplished, we headed back towards Exmouth, stopping on the way down for our first Children’s Python (Antaresia childreni) of the trip. After waving it goodbye I made the foolish choice of lifting my head torch to the surrounding shrubs, spotting a male Variegated Gehyra (Gehyra variegata). Since it was another species we needed samples of, we spent the next little while traipsing up and down the road trying to find more males to no success, finding only a female and a sleeping Western Bearded Dragon (Pogona minor). Not willing to spend any more time on it with our beds calling, we headed back into town, finding two Orange-naped Snakes (Furina ornata) along the way.
Day 10
Most of the daylight on our final day at Exmouth was spent very similarly to the day before, trying to recapture as much of our lost sleep as possible while we had a comfortable bed and aircon. Our first stops once we were outside also proved unfruitful on the sand dunes, with no Long-tailed Sand Dragons (Ctenophorus femoralis) or Keeled Sliders (Lerista planiventralis) showing themselves in the late afternoon. We did, however, make a detour for a cold but refreshing snorkel along the reef. Eventually making our way down to the same spot we spent the first Cape Range night at, we set out amongst the figs to try and find one of the smallest Lerista’s in the country, the Cape Range Slider (Lerista allochira). It took all of the remaining hours of daylight and some dedicated work finding many Unpatterned Robust Sliders first before Stephen eventually found the goods, although it was sadly missing its tail. Still, a win's a win and with no need for more samples from the area, we prepared for the long cruise back.
With high expectations and slightly warmer temperatures we began to cruise. As we should have expected, getting our hopes up was a mistake and nothing other than the usual Strophurus culprits seemed to be out and about. A stop to spotlight for Southern Phasmid Geckos (Strophurus jeanae) also proved unsuccessful (I choose to blame the wind) but did deliver a slightly more unexpected find. A suspiciously nice looking dead mat of spinifex on the road verge unveiled a perfectly curled Delma at its base. Closer examination revealed some aberrant scalation but we were all happy enough to call it our first North West Cape Delma, nice! It proved to be our only good find of the night, with another Phasmid Gecko attempt also turning up empty, and only a Sharp-snouted Delma (Delma nasuta), missing the entirety of its tail thanks to a previous car, to mark our way back to Exmouth. A bit of a mixed bag for the North West Cape, but a place I am very keen on returning to.
Day 11
Another late rising saw us leave Exmouth mid morning as we headed back towards Nanutarra. With a relatively small distance to cover it didn't take long to make it back to our roadhouse destination, although one quick pitstop was made to watch more Rufus Sand Dragons speed away without photos. The roadhouse would be our base for the afternoon and we settled in for many a meat pie, cup of chips and the odd beer to get us through the afternoon heat, a classic herping scenario. With the sun approaching the horizon we left the meager shade to head to some nearby outcrops we’d scouted on the drive in, with a quick first stop at a lone sand dune. Walking around produced our first sightings of Long-tailed Sand Dragons (Ctenophorus femoralis) and eventually one for photos.
Moving onto the first rock outcrop, the crew fanned out after eyeshine. It didn’t take long to find hordes of large, glowing eyes belonging to many Western Marbled Velvets (O. fimbria) among the ironstone, along with the occasional Small Pilbara Rock Gehyra (G. micra). Spotlighting a little longer failed to produce our target Gehyra, but several Pilbara Cave Geckos (Heteronotia spelea), a first for me, kept us rather happy. Deciding to move on to some large granite boulders, our swapping of rock type quickly payed off. Numerous Small-spotted Midwest Rock Gehyra (Gehyra finipunctata) coated the boulders. In a genus where competition for shittiest common name is tough, this species might just take the cake. Nevertheless, we were stoked with our success and a quick round of photos followed before we headed for camp. We did make one more quick stop at another sand dune, finding some slightly odd-looking North-western Sand-sliders (L. bipes), before calling it a night and unpacking the tents.
