As I was typing this I was remembering an old lame Kansas motto, The Land of Ahhhhhhhs. I think I have now gone to the real OZ and not the museum in Wamego, KS. Over the past Christmas I decided to visit one of our forum members who recently moved to Australia, Van (VanAR). I can't lie, I love to go to warm places during the winter and Australia did not disappoint. Had a great time. Van and the rest of you are lucky to be down there. I'm not going to give a ton of story but we herped and enjoyed Sydney. I also did a little birding too. These pics were taken with a smattering of cameras. Mostly my D300 and Olympus Stylus Tuff, but few iPhone pics too.
giant burrowing frog
Burrowing frog by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
common eastern froglets
Frog 1 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Frog 2 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
coppertailed skink
Coppertailed skink 2 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
litter skink
Litter Skink by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
water skink
Water Skink by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Water Skink B by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Here skinky by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Cunningham's skink
cunningham's skink02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
cunningham's skink03 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
common scalyfoot
Scalyfoot02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Scalyfoot eye by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Eastern Stone Gecko
Gecko A01 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Thick-tailed Gecko
Gecko B02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
water dragon
Water Dragon02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
redbelly black
Redbelly blacksnake03 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Redbelly blacksnake05 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
bandy bandy
Bandy bandy06 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Bandy bandy10 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Bandy bandy02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Doing West Texas impression
Bandy bandy on cut by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Blackish Blind Snake
Blind Snake by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Blind Snake2 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
BIRDS
Ibis
Ibis by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
laughing kookaburra
Kookaburra by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
magpie
Magpie by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
variegated ferrywren
Variegated Ferrywren04 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Variegated Ferrywren female by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
masked lapwing
Masked Lapwing by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
wood duck
Wood Duck01 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Wood duck by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Australasian grebe
Australasian grebe by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
black duck
Black Duck (1) by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
crested pigeon
Crested pigeon by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
noisy miner
Myna by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
darter
Darter01 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
great cormorant
Great Corm02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
pied cormorant
Pied Corm A01 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Pied Corm03 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
new holland honeyeater
Honeyeater by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
New Holland Honeyeater02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
sulfur crested cockatoo
sulfur cresed cockatoo by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
rainbow lorikeet
Rainbow Lorikeet by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
common bronzewing
Common Bronzewing02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
rock warbler
Bird01B by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
brown thornbill
Bird01 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
MISC CRITTERS
possom
Possom by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Wallaby B01 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Varied Swordgrass Brown
butterfly by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Comb by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Crab by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
fishing spider by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
snail 3 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
black prince cicada
Cicada by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
flat rock spider
Flat Rock Spider by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Flower B01 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
We did a snorkeling trip. It may have been our best day of the two weeks I was there. The pics aren't great but here are a few favorites. The water was fairly rough causing the water to be very cloudy. Feel free to ID.
I did get to swim with the Vanatee (inside joke for the AR crew)
Van03 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
The urchins were huge
Urchin by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
schooling squid
Squid by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
ray species
Ray2 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
fish40 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Fish38 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
fish31 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Fish25 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Fish19 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Fish18 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Fish11 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Fish10 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
fish01 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
fish24 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
SCENERY
Uni
Uni Sydney 3 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
View from the Uni
Uni Sydney 2 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Scenery02 by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
pic by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Van in Bush by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
City by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
For Brad (aka mulebrother)
Road by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Van by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Burned out car by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
I was able to afford this trip by sleeping at the foot of Van's bed in his one bedroom flat.
Our Christmas tree that Van's mom sent him
And our Christmas dinner, roo
This is where Van and I spent our last night on the town. I'm a bit of a beer snob and this place by far had the best beer I drank in Sydney
Lord Nelson Brewery by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
Harbor by Herp Photographer, on Flickr
I'm ready to go back and thanks for looking. Glenn
Christmas in Australia
Moderator: Scott Waters
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- Posts: 661
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 12:17 pm
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Re: Christmas in Australia
Looks like you guys had a great trip. Wish Melina and I had the time/money to make it down there and visit Van for a bit. Thanks for sharing.
Chris
Chris
Re: Christmas in Australia
Glenn,
Looks like you had a great trip! I love Royal NP and try to go there a few times every year. The walk along the cliff is a scenic one and also great for a variety of interesting plants, birds and a few herps. The trail head at Garie Beach is about a 40 minute drive from my home in Wollongong. I recognize the spot where you were looking for water skinks. The crossing there is a good place for them and they are fairly tame.
Bandy-bandies are great snakes, don't you think? Their defenisve display is so strange.
I can help you with some of the ids.
Gecko 1: Eastern Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus)
Gecko 2: Thick-tailed Gecko (Underwoodisaurus or Nephrurus milii)
The blind snake would most likely be Ramphotyphlops nigrescens
The "myna" is the honeyeater, Noisy Miner.
You are correct about the honeyeater being New Holland. They are super abundant in Royal.
The "unknown bird" (first) is a special species. It is a Rock Warbler or Origma, a species that is only found in the sandstone formations around Sydney.
"another unknown bird" is probably a Brown Thornbill.
The butterfly is a nice one and called a "Varied Swordgrass Brown".
Snorkelling/Diving is always a fun thing to do. Late in the summer, we pick up a few of the tropicals as well that are pushed south by the east Australia current. Your underwater pics are very nice. What camera did you use for these?
Fish40: One of the Leatherjackets
Fish38: Sergeant (left) and one of the breams (right)
Fish31: Sea Carp
Fish25: The neon-like fish are called Hula Fish. The triangular, tetra-like fish are one of the bullseyes.
Fish10: Crimson-breasted Wrasse. This was a male a nicely coloured.
Fish24: Red Morwong
Regards.
David
Looks like you had a great trip! I love Royal NP and try to go there a few times every year. The walk along the cliff is a scenic one and also great for a variety of interesting plants, birds and a few herps. The trail head at Garie Beach is about a 40 minute drive from my home in Wollongong. I recognize the spot where you were looking for water skinks. The crossing there is a good place for them and they are fairly tame.
Bandy-bandies are great snakes, don't you think? Their defenisve display is so strange.
I can help you with some of the ids.
Gecko 1: Eastern Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus)
Gecko 2: Thick-tailed Gecko (Underwoodisaurus or Nephrurus milii)
The blind snake would most likely be Ramphotyphlops nigrescens
The "myna" is the honeyeater, Noisy Miner.
You are correct about the honeyeater being New Holland. They are super abundant in Royal.
The "unknown bird" (first) is a special species. It is a Rock Warbler or Origma, a species that is only found in the sandstone formations around Sydney.
"another unknown bird" is probably a Brown Thornbill.
The butterfly is a nice one and called a "Varied Swordgrass Brown".
Snorkelling/Diving is always a fun thing to do. Late in the summer, we pick up a few of the tropicals as well that are pushed south by the east Australia current. Your underwater pics are very nice. What camera did you use for these?
Fish40: One of the Leatherjackets
Fish38: Sergeant (left) and one of the breams (right)
Fish31: Sea Carp
Fish25: The neon-like fish are called Hula Fish. The triangular, tetra-like fish are one of the bullseyes.
Fish10: Crimson-breasted Wrasse. This was a male a nicely coloured.
Fish24: Red Morwong
Regards.
David
Re: Christmas in Australia
Nice way of spending any holiday.
Re: Christmas in Australia
Thanks a bunch for the IDs David. I was hoping that you would see this post and help me out.
Glenn
They are a trip. Turned out they were the most common snake we saw. I do not know if it was the time of year or what, but we found 3 in the same basic area. We only found one of any other snake (except a dor redbelly black to go with the live one). I don't get what the advantage is to that defensive posture, but it did entertain us.moloch wrote:Bandy-bandies are great snakes, don't you think? Their defenisve display is so strange.
I use an Olympus Stylus Tough and if I remember my model is the 6020. For what it costs, it has been a fun little camera. It is junk when trying to get animal shots on land and especially at night but has been priceless for snorkeling.moloch wrote:Your underwater pics are very nice. What camera did you use for these?
Glenn
Re: Christmas in Australia
gretzkyrh4 wrote:Looks like you guys had a great trip. Wish Melina and I had the time/money to make it down there and visit Van for a bit. Thanks for sharing.
Chris
Well if you two weren't so busy going to Panama so much, geese.
Glenn
Re: Christmas in Australia
Nice variety of animals. I'm not into birding but your bird IDs pretty much explained most of what I saw while down there. Hopefully I get the warm weather on my next trip so the herps show up too. I really like the Royal NP too, very scenic. You have to visit QLD next time too. Thanks for bringing back the good memories.
Darin
Darin
Re: Christmas in Australia
Very jealous!
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- Posts: 661
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 12:17 pm
- Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Re: Christmas in Australia
Well those trips tend to be free, so it's a little hard to turn them down.ksuglennj wrote:gretzkyrh4 wrote:Looks like you guys had a great trip. Wish Melina and I had the time/money to make it down there and visit Van for a bit. Thanks for sharing.
Chris
Well if you two weren't so busy going to Panama so much, geese.
Glenn
Chris
Re: Christmas in Australia
Well done, you certainly saw quite a bit.
Here are some fish ID's if required.
Fish 40 Yellow fin Leatherjacket
Fish 38 Yellow fin bream and a Bengal Sergent Major
Fish 31 is a kelpfish in the family Chironemus
Fish 25 Are a school of Mono's down below (Monodactylus argenteus), i forgot what the small ones are above (Thanks to David they are Hula fish).
Fish 19 is a male Blue Groper
Fish 18 I think it is a school of Brown Blubberlips, however it could be drummer. Difficult angle to tell.
Fish 11 are Mado
Fish 10 is a Crimson band Wrasse
Fish 01 is another Yellow fin Bream
Fish 24 is a Red Morwong.
Edit: I didnt realise David had already given fish ID's. I thought he had only done everything else. Anyway hopefully i have helped some more.
Here are some fish ID's if required.
Fish 40 Yellow fin Leatherjacket
Fish 38 Yellow fin bream and a Bengal Sergent Major
Fish 31 is a kelpfish in the family Chironemus
Fish 25 Are a school of Mono's down below (Monodactylus argenteus), i forgot what the small ones are above (Thanks to David they are Hula fish).
Fish 19 is a male Blue Groper
Fish 18 I think it is a school of Brown Blubberlips, however it could be drummer. Difficult angle to tell.
Fish 11 are Mado
Fish 10 is a Crimson band Wrasse
Fish 01 is another Yellow fin Bream
Fish 24 is a Red Morwong.
Edit: I didnt realise David had already given fish ID's. I thought he had only done everything else. Anyway hopefully i have helped some more.