Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
Mattsnake
Posts: 73
Joined: January 14th, 2011, 6:41 pm
Location: Cairns, Australia

Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by Mattsnake »

For those of us that are interested in herps, winter time in the southern parts of Australia can be a really crappy and boring time of year.. So what do you do when it's cold? Get in a car with friends and drive nearly 3000km north to where the temperatures are at a much more reptile friendly level! That is what myself and three others decided to do to escape the ridiculously cold winter that we were experiencing in South-east Queensland this year.
The destination was Iron Range National Park which is located towards the tip of the Cape York Peninsula, an area that is inaccessible for half of the year due to the rainfall during the wet season.
The plan was to spend three weeks up there targeting Green Tree Pythons Morelia viridis which are not meant to be an easy species to find during winter time as they seek out the sunlight at the top of the rainforest canopy to keep warm.

The first day three of us drove flat out for 16 hours to get to Townsville where we would pick up the fourth member of the group, an American obsessed with all things small, brown and skink-like ...he was quickly given the nickname Hank the Yank. We managed a few hours sleep and then quickly were up again to continue our journey north. First stop the Atherton Tablelands where the temperatures were still far from ideal! However we managed a few small critters...

Image
Pale-lipped Shade Skink - Saproscincus basiliscus by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Robust Whistlefrog - Austrochaperina robusta by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Green-eyed Tree Frog - Litoria serrata by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Prickly Forest Skink - Gnypetoscincus queenslandiae by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Northern Leaf Tail Gecko - Saltuarius cornutus by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Waterfall Frog - Litoria nannotis by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Wasn't too bad of a night at all considering the low temperatures, however our target species, the Chameleon Gecko Carphodactylus laevis wasn't as silly as us to be out in the cold so it was to go unseen unfortunately.
The next day we were to head to the bottom of the Cape to target another species of gecko Oedura jowalbinna, however after driving 30km of the worst dirt road I had ever seen, vehicle clearance issues got the better of us and we had to accept defeat and turn around and drive the horrible 30km back to the main road again... not a good start as far as target species go! Instead we decided to poke around a rock escarpment close to the main road...

Image
Nactus cheverti by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Ring-tailed Gecko - Cyrtodactylus tuberculatus by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Many Gehyra dubia were also seen but I took no pictures as this was a species I had seen many times before. After looking around the rocks we continued north without seeing much at all besides the odd frog, soon fatigue got the better of us and it was time to sleep.
We rose fairly early with excitement knowing that by night fall we would reach our destination! Hundreds and hundreds of kilometres of heavily corregated dirt road was getting the better of me and I really couldn't wait to get to Iron Range!.. The drive was broken up though with the odd stop to poke around for animals..

Image
Northern Velvet Gecko (Oedura castelnaui) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Two-lined Dragon (Diporiphora bilineata) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Iron Range National Park turnoff by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Only about a kilometre after the turnoff we were greeted by our first snake of the trip, a species I had been dying to see after seeing a lot of roadkills before but never a live one.

Image
Black-headed Python - Aspidites melanocephalus by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

The rest of the drive into the National Park was fairly uneventful besides a couple of creek crossings and a flat tyre. We continued on through the rainforest of Iron Range and out into the heath land heading towards Chili Beach in the hope that there would be a vacant camping spot, but we weren't so lucky. However having to camp back in the rainforest would soon work to our advantage.

Image
Chili Beach - Iron Range National Park, QLD by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Nactus eboracensis by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Once night fell we set out on our first walk in search of the target species. The rainforest is an amazing place once darkness falls and the calls of frogs echo through the trees, White-lipped Tree Frogs and Wood Frogs can be seen nearly everwhere you look!

Image
White-lipped Tree Frog - Litoria infratrenata by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Wood Frog - Rana daemeli by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Within only an hour of walking I heard the words GREEN PYTHON come out of the mouth of a very excited Hank the Yank as he quickly dropped to his knees and looked down in a tangle of vines just above ground level. As I ran over I had to do a double take at what I was looking at ....it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! The snake was quickly nicknamed Hank. Success on the first night!

Little Hank in all his glory!
Image
Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Now that the target species had been found we were now free to see what else was in the area...

Image
Black-tailed bar-lipped skink (Glaphyromorphus nigricaudis) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Brown-headed Snake (Furina tristis) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

On the second night we went walking through vine-thicket looking for Giant Tree Geckos Pseudothecodactylus australis. We didn't manage to find the gecko but did stumble upon one of these.... not another one!

Image
Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

A few more herps from the area...

Image
Northern Banjo Frog - Limnodynastes terraereginae by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Scrub Python (Morelia kinghorni) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Spotted Tree Monitor (Varanus scalaris) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Common Tree Snake - Dendrelaphis punctulatus by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Burton's Legless Lizard - Lialis burtonis by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

On our final day/night we walked for many hours trying to locate Giant Tree Geckos and saw a few animals along the way (water pythons, slatey grey snakes and the odd gecko). Finally a Giant Tree Gecko was spotted way up a tree, unfortunately I didn't have my zoom lens with me so didn't get to take any photos of it, but the others did so if they see this maybe they could add a picture :)

Image
Slatey Grey Snake - Stegonotus cucullatus by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Zig-zag Velvet Gecko - Oedura rhombifer by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

It was now time to head south back towards home, the aim was to get to Black Mountain National Park near Cooktown by the next night. It rained nearly the whole way back down the Cape which made driving on the dirt road like driving on ice!

Image
Mertens Water Monitor (Varanus mertensi) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Mertens Water Monitor (Varanus mertensi) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Black Mountain is an amazing place and some of the boulders are the size of a house! It is quite easy to get lost on the mountain at night. The aim here was to find a species of gecko and frog that are endemic to the black boulders of the mountain.

Image
Black Mountain National Park, Queensland. by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Black Mountain Gecko (Nactus galgajuga) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Image
Female Black Mountain Boulder Frog (Cophixalus saxatilis) by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

It was now a very long drive home but not without seeing one more reptile..

Image
Freshwater Crocodile - Crocodylus johnstoni by Mattsummerville, on Flickr

Now looking back on the trip, seeing not one, but two Green Tree Pythons in the wild just seems like a dream!

Cheers.
Matt
mikemike
Posts: 1207
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 1:37 pm
Location: Ft. Smith, Arkansas
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by mikemike »

Awesome post and great photography man! Thanks a lot for sharing.
User avatar
Schell
Posts: 456
Joined: June 9th, 2010, 9:33 am
Location: SF Bay Area
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by Schell »

I know I'm going to be in the minority here but The banjo frog and the black mtn gecko are my favorites. Bad-ass animals throughout! Well done.
User avatar
chrish
Posts: 3295
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:14 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by chrish »

Great critters + great story + great photos = great post.
User avatar
Dan Krull
Posts: 846
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:05 pm
Location: Kansas
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by Dan Krull »

World class photography. You have a real gift.

Thanks for posting!

Dan
User avatar
withalligators
Posts: 329
Joined: June 29th, 2010, 6:50 am
Location: northern Westchester co., NY

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by withalligators »

Man. Have any room over there for another yank?
User avatar
Ribbit
Posts: 601
Joined: June 12th, 2010, 10:28 am
Location: Monterey Peninsula, CA
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by Ribbit »

Fantastic stuff. Keep it coming!

John
User avatar
frogshot
Posts: 135
Joined: October 28th, 2010, 5:34 am
Location: based in UK
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by frogshot »

Schell, I'm with you on the Banjo frog, the Robust Whistlefrog is also awesome. Great photos and a great post.
User avatar
Martti Niskanen
Posts: 363
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 11:19 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by Martti Niskanen »

Reading the subject, I was thinking: "Chondros or it didn't happen".

Got me.

Great post!
jgjulander
Posts: 51
Joined: October 19th, 2010, 1:38 pm

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by jgjulander »

Great post! Love the Iron Range. It is a total thrill to see a GTP in their natural habitat.
Justin
User avatar
StephenZozaya
Posts: 145
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:31 am
Location: Townsville, Queensland

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by StephenZozaya »

Man, that 'Hank the Yank' fella must be incredible!

Good post, Matt
User avatar
moloch
Posts: 561
Joined: June 16th, 2010, 1:26 pm

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by moloch »

Matt,

Wonderful photos! I love the first GTP hanging from the small tree. It really is a good one. Looks like you guys did very well but I am disappointed not to see shots of an Orange Jezebel along with the herps. ;)
StephenZozaya wrote:Man, that 'Hank the Yank' fella must be incredible!

Good post, Matt
I wonder who that guy could be?
Mattsnake
Posts: 73
Joined: January 14th, 2011, 6:41 pm
Location: Cairns, Australia

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by Mattsnake »

Thanks guys :)
moloch wrote:Matt,

Wonderful photos! I love the first GTP hanging from the small tree. It really is a good one. Looks like you guys did very well but I am disappointed not to see shots of an Orange Jezebel along with the herps. ;)
Haha, I'm guessing an Orange Jezebel is a butterfly? I don't have the patience that you have David, I get frustrated just trying to get near butterflies let alone taking photos of them! :)
User avatar
TNWJackson
Posts: 277
Joined: June 22nd, 2010, 10:48 pm

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by TNWJackson »

Awesome, so awesome. Stephen sent me a few photos a while back and on reading this post I have once again assumed a shade of green not dissimilar from that of those pythons.....jerks.

BTW, excellent photography.
User avatar
moloch
Posts: 561
Joined: June 16th, 2010, 1:26 pm

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by moloch »

Hello Matt,

Yes, the Orange (aka Golden) Jezebel is a beautiful butterfly that is confined to the upper Cape York. The Iron Range has a number of special butterflies but I did not see many of these at the end of the dry season on my only trip to the park. I would love to get back again and try for these now that I know how to bait. Also, would love to see the northern herps again.

Regards,
David
User avatar
Field Herper
Posts: 52
Joined: July 7th, 2012, 6:15 am
Location: Oz

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by Field Herper »

Excellent herp photography Matt. Can you please tell us a bit about your gear?
User avatar
jordo
Posts: 93
Joined: July 15th, 2010, 5:48 am
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by jordo »

Good stuff Matt. Can't wait to get up there myself!
User avatar
Fieldnotes
Posts: 1474
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:12 pm
Location: Anaheim, California
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by Fieldnotes »

Australian posts are awesome!! love te shot of the Water Monitor on the rock...
User avatar
scottriv
Posts: 115
Joined: February 6th, 2012, 7:24 pm

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by scottriv »

Congrats on the Chondros!

Very cool.

Can you get up there any time of year now?

When I tried to get up there, the road was 2 meters deep in water :(
User avatar
justinm
Posts: 3423
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:26 am
Location: Illinois
Contact:

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by justinm »

EPIC
User avatar
crocdoc
Posts: 473
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:43 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Cape York Peninsula, Australia

Post by crocdoc »

Excellent!
Post Reply