Broad headed snakes rock on

I've just been out at Yengo helping a fellow student with some field work - you can read about the project in today's Sydney Morning Herald article here. It was a real treat to see my first broad-head (Hoplocephalus bungaroides): this one was nestled in a rock crevice.



Another highlight was this Thick tailed (or Barking) gecko (Underwoodisaurus milli) which we found under a piece of tin. He put on this impressive threat display and even barked and lunged at me a few times as I took his picture.

Trip report: Simpson desert, part 1

Back in April, immediately after handing in my thesis, I bought myself a swag and headed out to the Simpson desert. I was a volunteer on a trip run by the "Dickman Lab" aka the Institute of Wildlife Research at Sydney Uni. This group of researchers carries out a range of ecological studies in the arid zone, from the effects of feral cats and foxes, fire ecology, population dynamics and the effects of grazing. Chris Dickman has been leading research the particular study area that I was visiting in the Simpson for around 20 years.

It was great to see the country change - dry up - flatten out - as we headed out of Sydney, through the mountains and across the western plains. Through Bourke, Cunnamulla, Charleville, Windorah and Bedourie. Lying under the starry sky on the first night, just over the NSW-Queensland border, I could feel the tension of weeks in front of a computer in the city slide off me.

Highlights of the drive:
- first nights under the stars
- Mulga (King brown) snake on the road (above)
- channel country
- Wedge-tailed eagle nest (below)


After two and a half days on the road we had arrived!

Miscellaneous update

Assuming there are still some people that either subscribe or occasionally check this blog for updates, I thought I'd provide a brief rundown of my activities recently.

Honours is all handed in and I'm awaiting my mark. My vague ambition for the next year or so is to see as much of Australia as possible (road trip!), do some volunteer work, and maybe think about what I want to do next (PhD? Work? Continue avoiding either?).

Since handing in I've been on some field trips - to the Simpson desert, the Warrumbungles and out to Wellington caves. I'll post some photos from the desert along with some comments in the near future.

I also have a backlog of photos (e.g. from the top end and some frogging trips here in Sydney) that I may get around to posting.

Coat of many colours

I'm back in Sydney! I have lots of photos from the top end that I'll probably throw up from time to time, though I'm rather busy for the moment with uni work.

Almost immediately after getting back I went for a trip up to the mid-north coast. On the way, picnicing at Karuah, I spotted this lovely moth.

A quick look on Don Herbison-Evans' site revealed what it was - Agarista agricola, 'Joseph's coat moth' (Noctuidae).

This one is a male - and it was very flighty though always returned to this creeper (I assume a food plant). It finally stayed put and I snuck up with guerilla stealth. A fraction of a second after I took this shot it was suddenly off again - this time because a female had turned up and he was in pursuit!

The pair fluttered around for a while though the female seemed to show no interest in her suitor. She did however lead me to another food plant in the area.

This vine was almost entirely defoliated, and I spotted the caterpillar below as well as a few of the same species that had only hatched recently.

Not great photos, happy-snaps only, though I was very impressed with the colouration on both the adult and the larval forms.

Night Tiger

This snake is a real beauty - it's the brown tree snake, Boiga irregularis. You might recall it's the species that has caused ecological havoc on Guam where it's introduced. In Australia however, it's native, and up here in the top end we have the so-called 'night tiger' form.