The Great WA Raking Trip (Part 2)
Mt Augustus to Shark Bay (2nd - 5th of September)
Day 4
While it may house some very nice herps, the Mt Augustus Tourist Park leaves a lot to be desired. What tourist park doesn’t have hot pies or coffee for sale? Anyway, leaving that average hospitality behind we headed southwards on dirt roads. We had hoped to track down a Pale Broad-blazed Slider (Lerista petersoni), but with many targets on the agenda we ran out of time for leaf litter fossicking and instead headed for our first agamid target. Unfortunately for us, L. petersoni would end up being the only nichollsi group species we’d miss. Our first lizards for the day came in the form of a Western Beardy (Pogona minor) and my first Western Netted Dragons (Ctenophorus reticulatus) before we pulled up to search some granite for the actual target. For whatever reason, our dragon was not to be seen after walking around for quite a while in the heat, although Justin managed to find a Pygmy Spiny-tailed Skink (Egernia depressa) deep in a rock crevice. Heading further south we stopped the car to watch a big Yellow-spotted Monitor (Varanus panoptes) when I spotted some small granite boulders in the background. With nothing to lose we jumped out for a quick scout and it didn’t take long to come across several of our actual target, the range-restricted Yinnietharra Rock Dragon (Ctenophorus yinnietharra). Nick and I managed to nab some macros of a female while Justin stalked several for insitus before we all had had enough of the heat.
One hundred or so kilometres later and we jumped out for our first proper rake of the day. The trees didn’t seem too promising but after finding a few with deeper leaf litter, out plopped the fattest little Jan’s Banded Snake (Simoselaps bertholdi), a species I’d searched for on several occasions over the last few years without luck. After sweating it out a while longer we also had our main target for the spot, a hefty Gascoyne Broad-blazed Slider (Lerista gascoynensis) with an original tail. Unfortunately, an accompanying Rolfe’s Slider (Lerista rolfei) failed to materialise.
Only one location remained to be visited for the day and after stocking up on some very good burgers at the Gascoyne Roadhouse, we pottered off to the base of the Kennedy Range. The cliffs were rather intimidating in the late afternoon heat and we sweated it out as we climbed to the plateau above. After some gymnastics from Justin at the top (which fortunately did not result in him taking the fast way back down) we finally made it out into the sand dunes atop the range. I hadn’t researched too much about the area but Nick had been particularly keen to visit this spot and it was easy to see why. The dunes were pristine, with no weeds and no one around to have to share the vista with. It would definitely be one of the nicest spots we’d been to together. With the last sunlight fading we started tracking Lerista trails which became more numerous the higher we climbed the dunes. Nick eventually summoned from the sand what we’d come for, the uncommonly seen Kennedy Range Slider (Lerista kennedyensis). One photo session later and we began to retrace our steps. Despite the awesome habitat, more herps were hard to come by and we made it back to the rock only finding a single Pilbara Sand-plain Gecko (Lucasium woodwardi). Geckos became a little more numerous among the cliffs and we came across several Small-spotted Midwest Rock Gehyra (Gehyra finipunctata), Western Marbled Velvet Geckos (Oedura fimbria) and two Pilbara Cave Geckos (Heteronotia spelea) (at the far southern edge of their range) as we made our way back to the car. Despite grand ideas to cruise late into the night, we ended up setting up shop west of Gascoyne Junction around midnight for some well earned sleep.
Day 5
After experiencing two full days of limited caffeine and food supply (other than some good burgers), we dedicated several hours to eating, showering and washing clothes in Carnarvon the next morning. Emerging sparkly clean we finally headed northwards to the Gnaraloo coast where we planned to spend the day targeting its local Aprasia. Conditions were mild and after navigating the very sandy track in it took our resident Aprasia expert (Nick) all of 20 minutes to find two excellent examples of the Gnaraloo Worm-lizard (Aprasia litorea), a resplendent species that looks almost identical to Atomic Worm-lizard we’d seen several days previously. Despite accepting tutelage from the master I failed to replicate his feat, a process I’d go on to repeat for several more Aprasia much to my own annoyance. The devil worms were also exceptionally wiggly and took much patience (and/or excessive frustration) to take photos of. Still stoked with our easy success before midday, we spent a little longer wandering around the dunes and soaking in the spot. The relatively recently elevated Variable Sand Dragon (Ctenophorus badius) was abundant, along with the occasional Long-nosed Dragon (Gowidon longirostris). I’m also fairly sure I raked out another Plani, which exploded off into more leaf litter.
Changing locations we headed further north along the coast line to both fill in the day and with vague dreams of rediscovering the Gnaraloo Mulch-slider (Lerista haroldi). Our low effort foray failed to yield the golden slider, although a Blunt-tailed West-coast Slider (Lerista praepedita) did give me a heart attack for a millisecond. However, while driving we did come across a large Perentie (Varanus giganteus), a new species for Justin and an awesome lizard to approach slowly while it stands its ground. Varanid sated, we headed back south to wait out the light at the Quobba Lighthouse. I failed to find a Gnaraloo Heath Dragon (Ctenophorus parviceps) despite walking around aimlessly for several hours. Darkness finally fell and after a short jaunt through the low shrubbery, Nick and I returned to Justin with the target Exmouth Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus rankini) and a bonus nicely coloured Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (N. levis). With most of our targets for the day safely observed we pointed the prado south and settled in for a decent drive to get closer to the Shark Bay area. We did make brief stops for a Goldfield’s Bullfrog (Neobatrachus wilsmorei) (a species I was rather excited to come across), a monster West Coast Banded Snake (Simoselaps littoralis) (which got us all excited), as well as some filthy feet washing at the servo tap (I’m sure the lady who served us at midnight thought us completely normal) before camping one hundredish kilometres south of Carnarvon.
Day 6
We were up and at it early the next day with a quick poke around that failed to yield a Stripe-tailed Monitor (Varanus caudolineatus) but did deliver two cute Pygmy Spiny-tailed Skinks (Egernia depressa), before dropping in for breakfast at the Wooramel Roadhouse. I really need to catalogue my roadhouse ratings, Wooramel would score very low with its dismal interior and continental breakfast offering (for $10) that looked like it should be avoided at all costs. Putting it behind us, we put in the hours to arrive mid morning at the shiny white dunes of the Edel Land coastline, finding a Shark Bay Shingleback (Tiliqua rugosa palarra) along the way. The area harboured numerous endemic species we were keen on seeing, with the Shark Bay Worm-lizard (Aprasia haroldi) sitting at the top of the findable targets. I’d only managed to walk to the top of the closest dune in the two minutes it took Nick to find the first one, and he returned not too long later with a second. With that taken care of, we had over half a day left to find anything diurnal we were after. I was particularly keen on a Shark Bay Heath Dragon (Ctenophorus butlerorum) and spent several hours spotting countless Variable Sand Dragon (Ctenophorus badius) before finally sighting a single exceptionally pretty heath dragon, which I proceeded to fumble. I was particularly annoyed because it was also my 700th Aussie reptile and spent even longer trying to find another to no avail. Interestingly, the mild sunny weather did seem rather good for pygopod activity, with Nick finding an active Burton’s Legless Lizard (Lialis burtonis) and I caught a glimpse of Common Scaly-foot (Pygopus lepidopodus). Leaving the sand behind for the afternoon, we swapped to the limestone to view some blowholes as well as some Humpback Whales spotted swimming just below the cliff. Reptiles were also abundant among the rock and we quickly came across several Western Clawless Geckos (Crenadactylus occidentalis), Péron’s Snake-eyed Skinks (Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus), Thick-tailed Geckos (Underwoodisaurus milii), and a West Coast Morethia (Morethia lineoocellata) and Western Slender Bluetongue (Cyclodomorphus celatus).
With some rather successful daylight hours under our belts we didn’t have long to wait for dark, and with it the search for perhaps the coolest local. Heading back into the sand we started following funky looking tracks in the hopes of leading us to a truly odd frog. I got a little distracted for a while and collectively we found a variety of geckos (Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (N. levis), South-western Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus spinigerus), Ornate Stone Geckos (Diplodactylus ornatus), and White-spotted Ground Geckos (Lucasium alboguttatum)) before Nick produced the goods with a tiny male Northern Sandhill Frog (Arenophryne rotunda). These guys are funky, burrowing face first into the sand during the day and emerging at night to feed. They were a species I’d been looking forward to seeing for a long time. Nick headed back into the dunes while we struggled to photograph some geckos and this time found the larger and even more rotund female, completing the pair. I didn’t manage any good photos of either of them (they’re rather difficult to photograph walking around the sand) but they were awesome to see. Hopefully next time I’m there I’ll have the energy for better photos (I’m still kicking myself). Exhausted, we spent a rather unrestful night on the sand with scudding rain clouds and high winds.
Day 7
With little chance of fluking either of the two remaining pygopods we wanted to see the next morning, we packed up camp and hightailed it out of there with more threatening rain clouds at our backs. Swapping one peninsula for the other, we headed into Denman for some caffeine and sustenance. Appropriately refueled and battling the gale force winds we also made a quick stop outside of town to find a Shark Bay Broad-blazed Slider (Lerista varia). The short shrubs had some amazing leaf litter and no shortage of Lerista, and we quickly turned up Elegant Sliders (Lerista elegans), Unpatterned Robust Sliders (Lerista macropisthopus) and our first Blinking Broad-blazed Slider (Lerista connivens), but our target remained elusive. It took another half hour and several more Lerista, plus bycatch including Common Dwarf Skinks (Menetia greyii) and another West Coast Banded Snake (Simoselaps littoralis) before Justin and I finally got an L. varia each. Raking up such a variety of species was one of my favourite highlights of the trip.
With our thirst for fossorial herps sated for at least the next five minutes, we backtracked to Hamelin for a quick look at the stromatolites, but were pulled up by the fences. Definitely disappointing that the boardwalk still hasn’t been fixed years after the storm damage. Pushing aside our grief at failing to peruse ancient microbial mats up close, we turned our attention to our next Aprasia target. The Zuytdorp Worm-lizard (Aprasia smithi), one of the most distinctive looking species in the genus, was probably the lizard I was most keen to track down for the trip and we headed off to search some rocks with gusto. Said gusto lasted for approximately 2 and a bit hours during which time I saw nothing but several Bynoe’s Geckos (Heteronotia binoei) and a potential Micro Three-toed Slider (Lerista micra) which confounded my sleep deprived brain. Deciding to throw in the towel for the day (we still had several spots to check for the species during the next two) we swapped back to some classic sandy leaf litter raking. It didn’t take Nick long to turn up two Dark Broad-blazed Sliders (Lerista kendricki), although one with a full tail remained elusive as the light faded and temperatures dropped. Our several attempts to find a Robust Striped Gecko (Strophurus michaelseni) proved fruitless, although I did approach eyeshine 1 m high in a shrub expecting to see a Western Spiny-tailed Gecko (S. strophurus) only to find an ungainly looking Kluge’s Gecko (Diplodactylus klugei) clinging to the leaves, the other gecko target for the night. We didn’t waste time cruising for a Woma with the freezing conditions and instead opting for an early, cold and altogether very uncomfortable night back at Hamelin.
