The Lerista Trip of ‘21 (Part 3)
Straight up the Cape Development Road with millions of our closest caravanning friends.
Mareeba to Iron Range NP (20th-22nd)
Day 10 continued
With unattractively cold temperatures and no herps in the south, along with our run of good luck so far, none of us were keen to head back to Townsville and on to our respective homes. Great conditions and other herpers recent success up on Cape York beckoned and we decided to throw in roughly another week of reptile chasing, most of which we’d planned to do in the coming November. With our minds set on a northerly velvet gecko and green snakes we shot east to Mareeba. I of course had to duck into Mitre 10 and buy a replacement head torch and after a greasy but delicious maccas stop we were back in the car and heading north.
Asides from border restrictions, covid had one other nasty consequence in store for us and as we headed north it became more and more apparent. 4WD of all descriptions, the vast majority also towing caravans, were absolutely everywhere. Not ideal for herping or for even just enjoying ourselves. We battled the traffic all the way to Laura. It was late afternoon by the time we were drawing close to the haunts of the Quinkan Velvet Gecko (Oedura jowalbinna) but we had a few more trials to face before arrival. A herd of bogans had decided to camp at one of the creek crossings, variously sinking tinnies in the water or setting up camp practically on the road. After navigating through the rocky creek and past the rabble we discovered why they were there. Water from rain over the past few weeks was sitting across the road and they’d all worked their hardest to chop the poor station’s road to absolute pieces. Luckily, someone with an IQ higher than a mushroom had also made a dry track around the edge and we slowly made our way closer to the target outcrops. We ended up having to walk the final few kilometres with the track turning impassable, but we were just in time to a spectacular sunset from the top.
Darkness finally came and with it, a lack of geckos. Several Coastal Ring-tailed Geckos (Cyrtodactylus tuberculatus) were spied speeding back to their crevices, along with a few of the odd Cape York Gehyra, but no velvet gecko. Following some helpful advice we continued further along the track and I soon spied an unconfirmed velvet gecko disappearing into a crevice. Within five minutes Nick had found an adult and Justin produced two adults and one juvenile from a single crevice area. Elated, out came the cameras and flashes for the gecko haul. To add to the enjoyment we also got to wake all of our friends up going back through the creek crossing on the way out. Camp was made somewhere to the north of Laura, but not before finding a chunky Orange-naped Snake (Furina ornata) on the road.
Day 11
Continuing our battle with our fellow Cape York holiday goers we continued up the road the next day. While the main goal was to make it to the Iron Range by nightfall, we did have one detour to complete looking for a lesser known skink. Arriving at another jump up we were out and amongst the rocks looking for our quarry. It didn’t take long to spot, with several Bamboo Range Rock Skinks (Liburnascincus artemis) spied zipping nimbly among the outcrops. I quickly learned that insitu photos, while not my usual style, were a much easier task with this swift but inquisitive genus. Satisfied with our find, we were back in the prado and on our way.
Getting to the Iron Range took most of the rest of the day, although a shower at Archer River Roadhouse was a necessity. After setting up at our campsite and a hearty feed we were ready to look for the main reason we’d come so far, the Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis). Within Australia, this species is only known from the Iron and McIlwraith Ranges on the Cape, although once you’re in the right habitat they are exceptionally common. I’d previously come to the Iron Range back in 2018 for a singular night but failed to find them. I didn’t plan on leaving empty handed again.
Heading down to Chilli Beach, supposedly one of the best places for them, Justin was driving at a reasonably quick 50ish kms an hour with Nick and I’s head torches out the sides. We hadn’t made it far when Nick started screaming “Gre! Gre! Gre! Gre! GREEN!”. Assuming he’d seen a snake and wasn’t suffering a heart attack, brakes were mashed and we scrambled out of the car to lay eyes on our electric green quarry. Greens certainly look good in photos, but they’re definitely one of those species that just aren’t done justice if not seen in person. They glow in torchlight and Nick had managed to spot quite a large one layed out along a log. Plenty of excited babbling and high fives followed before we eventually got out the cameras. We’d found our target within ten minutes of searching and it was one of the best herping highs.
After quite a few photos and a decent while just admiring our find, we continued down to Chilli Beach. Spotlighting in the vine thicket, Justin quickly spotted another Green moving through the vegetation. As she was reasonably high up and moving we elected to leave her and continue our search for a Giant Tree Gecko (Pseudothecadactylus australis). After a while without hint of said gecko, I decided to leave the other two to it and headed back to the car to try and photograph a Cape York Nactus (Nactus eboracensis). While I didn’t end up photographing one, I did come across the same Green as before but lower in the veg, so out came the camera. By the time I was finished and made it back to the car, Nick and Justin were already there with the Tree Gecko they’d found. More photos were to be had, although it was a rather angry individual that could certainly bite well. With our two targets safely observed, it was three very happy herpers that made their way back to camp.
Day 12
Greens may have been our biggest target in the area, but with another night of camping booked we had around 24 hours of free time to play with the next day. A frog and a gecko on Mt Tozer were selected as our targets but we’d need to wait for night to look for them. Cloudy conditions also all but ruled out Canopy Monitors (Varanus keithhornei) or Shrub Whiptail Skinks (E. longicauda), so we headed into Lockhart. There were plenty of places around the community with rubbish and tin to flip so we spent several hours trying to rustle up a Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) to no success. Walking through the rainforest was also uneventful other than finding a freshly hit Northern Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis calligastra) on the road. With most of the day eventually whiled away, we ventured back along the road to near Mt Tozer.
The area we were walking into was infamous for being an absolute nightmare to make it through. Fortunately for us, that seemed to be an exaggeration. Whether we lucked out in our path choice or walking in the day made it significantly easier to navigate, it didn’t take long before we were perched up among a boulder field. Despite the overcast conditions, skinks were everywhere, with every boulder and leaf litter patch festooned with Crevice Rainbow Skinks (Lygisaurus rimula). Interspersed among them were much larger Coen Rock Skinks (Liburnascincus coensis), dwarfing the Lygisaurus. Both species were very swift and consequently, we all attempted insitus. While I did manage passable shots of the inquisitive Rock Skinks, the Lygisaurus were not at all interested in our presence and that, combined with their diminutive size, left me photoless. With the day dragging on and our skink needs fulfilled, we started exploring down into the network of caves within the boulders in search of our main two targets.
It was still well and truly light when Justin spotted our first Kutini Boulder Frogs (Cophixalus kulakula) near the entrance of one of the caves, but they evaded him, slipping back down into crevices out of reach. The light did eventually fade and the frogs began to emerge on mass, with many, mostly juveniles, being found hopping around the leaf litter on the surface. One female even interrupted Nick and I while we photographed a male, shooting straight past the camera into frame. After having my fill of the frogs, I set out into more open bouldery areas and eventually spotted the large eyeshine that I knew would belong to our other target. Hoskin’s Ring-tailed Geckos (Cyrtodactylus hoskini) are large and swift and require a fairly fast approach to ensure they don’t slip away. Not an easy task when it involves boulder hopping across large and many metre deep gaps that will easily steal camera gear or break an ankle or leg. Nevertheless, I secured a large individual and saw several others while making my way back to Nick and Justin for photos. After everyone had finished their photos, we packed up and made our way back through the thick scrub to the car, with a complementary Spotted Python (Antaresia maculosa) along the way.
It was still fairly early at this point and we weren’t ready to throw the towel in just yet. Spotlighting back to camp we quickly found a Scrub Python (Simalia kinghorni) peeking out of the road side veg, followed by a small Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in one of the main creek crossings. Arriving back at camp, I headed over to the loo at at a nearby site while the others spotlighted down to the creek. Naturally, they were interrupted before they got there and I came back to them watching our third Green Tree Python (M. viridis) of the trip. Couldn’t have been a much better way to finish our second and final night at the Iron Range.
