WA Heteronotia sampling (Part 1)
Canberra to Shark Bay (18th – 24th May)
Day 1
As of this year I’ve started back at the ANU and that gives me a lot more freedom to tag along on other people's fieldwork. Consequently, I was able to join Naomi and Stephen on Naomi’s fieldwork to collect Bynoe’s Geckos (Heteronotia binoei) across WA for studies of fitness consequences in parthenogens. Anuj, the other PhD student from my lab, rounded out the team and we took off from Canberra heading west early in the morning. Travelling by road from Canberra in any direction is rather monotonous and we spent the first day sending it to the cold, windy and dry southern flinders, arriving well after sundown. A quick spotlight yielded a Ranges Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus furcosus) which was rather entertaining, as I’d looked for them at the spot twice before in better conditions without luck.
Day 2
Day two involved many more kilometres, but we did flip some tin before heading off that yielded many Edwards’ Slider (Lerista edwardsae). Our next brief break was in Pinkawillenie to try and rustle up a Ribbon Slider (Lerista taeniata) without success. Stephen pulled through with the first Common Scaly-foot (Pygogus lepidopodus) for the rest of the team. It was large, stumpy and missing most of its tail. Fortunately it’s attitude made up for its lacklustre appearance. I managed a similarly spectacular Inland Snake-eyed Skink (Cryptoblepharus australis), raked from deep within the cold wet sand under a stump. Undaunted, we continued west.
After some caffeine sourcing in Ceduna we started the night in some sandy mallee and met our first real success. The spinifex proved bountiful, delivering an Unbanded Delma (Delma butleri), a Marble-faced Delma (Delma australis) and several of the target Painted Delmas (Delma petersoni). The freezing conditions unsurprisingly proved less good for geckoing but we continued with high spirits, stopping briefly for a Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat before pulling up just near the beginning of the Nullarbor to camp. Stephen and I had a brief rake around in the frigid conditions as I was keen on another Edwards’ Slider (L. edwardsae) (I’d neglected to get an on white of them earlier in the day). Numerous tiny Southwestern Earless Skinks (Hemiergis initialis) appeared before I fluked (what I believe) was the luckiest find of the trip, uncovering an absolutely minute Masters’ Snake (Drysdalia mastersii). I almost contracted frostbite with my bare toes while photographing it, but it was entirely worth it. An unexpected way to come across my last Drysdalia! Very nice.
Day 3
Freezing but upbeat the journey continued westwards. We had a brief hiatus at the Nullarbor Roadhouse before flipping some tin, producing a very pretty Southern Slider (Lerista dorsalis), a Nullarbor Slender Bluetongue (Cyclodomorphus melanops siticulosus), a Gould’s Hooded Snake (Suta gouldii) and some Painted Dragons (Ctenophorus pictus). Jumping to Eucla, Naomi raked out the first planned target of the trip I was keen on, a massive Baynes’ Slider (Lerista baynesi). Duning proved less productive and I lost the only South-western Slider (Lerista microtis). Rip arenicola. The team continued on into the dark and arrived at Balladonia at around midnight. With conditions marginally above freezing the geckos were still about, including a multitude of Barking Geckos (Underwoodisaurus milii) and Southern Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus intermedius), along with my first Main’s Ground Gecko (Lucasium maini). Exhausted after raking proved less productive we crashed into our tents.
Day 4
Our last day of transit before sampling officially began started with a quick stop at some spinifex covered granite. Although we didn’t produce the desired Orange-crowned Toadlet (Pseudophryne occidentalis), Stephen did find our first Dwarf Three-toed Slider thing (Lerista timida) of the trip and the lone pool of water was full of an obscene number of Neobatrachus tadpoles. Continuing onwards we swung through the marvellous locations of Norseman and Coolgardie. I do not recommend them. Their only redeeming quality was the presence of a Southern Robust Slider (Lerista picturata), which we found in a quick stop in some decent woodland nearby. A third lightning fast herp also saw us net a few Ornate Rock Dragons (Ctenophorus ornatus) alongside the first sampled Bynoe’s of the trip. Hooray!
With the sun heading for the horizon we finally arrived at the first planned sampling location near Southern Cross. Actually finding the 20 odd necessary geckos certainly wasn’t easy and took pretty much all of the remaining daylight. Fortunately bycatch was plentiful, with Barking Geckos (Underwoodisaurus milii), Ringed Browns (Pseudonaja modesta), Bold-striped Robust Sliders (Lerista gerrardii), Fine-faced Geckos (Diplodactylus pulcher) and a timida thing that keyed to King’s Slider (Lerista kingi) all found while conducting official sampling business. Pleased with our haul we continued north-west into the night, camping near Wubin. A quick scratch around did not produce a Side-barred Delma (Delma grayii), but rather the slightly unexpected sight of a Reticulated Whipsnake (Demansia reticulata). It proved relatively photographable, and I rolled into my tent contentedly at about 1 am.
Day 5
Prior to more sampling we headed for a resupply of coffee and bacon in Carnarvon. Nutrition sorted the team headed for Shark Bay and I shed a tear driving past Zuytdorp Worm-lizard (Aprasia smithi) habitat that we didn’t have time to explore. Our end goal for the day was to magic up as many as possible of one of the parental binoei lineages in the vicinity of Hamelin Pool. Nick and Justin and I had found several there less than a year prior. Despite my accurate and helpful advice, the team was not so successful and we ended up flipping limestone for several hours to little success other than a few Western Netted Dragons (Ctenophorus reticulatus) and scratched fingertips. Naomi pulled through the strongest with a Micro Three-toed Slider (Lerista micra). They’re a surprisingly nice golden brown, but otherwise very much a muelleri group species. Slightly deflated, we headed further west to camp in the vicinity of Tamala Station. I raised my own spirits marginally by raking out a Dark Broad-blazed Slider (Lerista kendricki) for Stephen before calling it a night.
Day 6
Determined to improve upon the previous day, the team was out in the white dunes of Edel Land early the next morning. Our success was not quick to improve though and I found little except the most minute Shark Bay Heath Dragon (Ctenophorus butlerorum) before ominous clouds began to build. Bryce, the elite herper of the south-west, arrived just as the rain did and we all spent several hours sitting in the cars to avoid getting wet. Spirits unbroken by the shitty weather, we swapped tactics and began flipping more limestone. Although nothing outrageous, this proved much more successful and we quickly uncovered several Western Clawless Geckos (Crenadactylus occidentalis), Barking Geckos (Underwoodisaurus millii) and a Burton’s Legless Lizard (Lialis burtonis), along with of course several of the necessary binoei. What would have dramatically improved the afternoon, a Black-necked Whipsnake (Demansia calodera), was of course found as a desiccated corpse. A bit of a mixed bag really.
The rain might have been a little bit unhelpful for diurnal reptiles, but it was good for one species. We headed into the vegless dunes on dark and I had my fingers crossed that we’d improve on my last experience with the Northern Sandhill Frog (Arenophryne rotunda). I needn’t have worried. The little dumplings soon started emerging from the sand en masse. We appropriately spent several hours tip-toeing around and photographing them as they variously sat at the entrance of their burrows or waddled around on important business. Seriously cool, weird and beautiful frogs. Feeling much more fulfilled (or I was at least), we saw a few more geckos (Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (Nephrurus levis) and South-western Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus spinigerus), along with a sleeping Western Bearded Dragon (Pogona minor), before heading for bed on the cold and muddy sand.
Day 7
Despite the marked improvement in our luck the previous night, we (or perhaps mostly Naomi and Stephen) were feeling the pressure the next morning. We’d fallen significantly behind our projected binoei quotas. Luckily, I devised the perfect strategy to maximise our success and we set off to flip more limestone while Bryce stayed behind on the hunt for Aprasia. The geckos did not agree with my chosen rocks though, and after much effort we had a mere two new individuals, along with a couple more L. micra and several sightings of zippy Bar-shouldered Ctenotus (Ctenotus inornatus). Ducking back out to the peninsula to pack down camp (we’d originally intended to stay another night) we refound Bryce who’d miraculously managed to find a Shark Bay Worm-lizard (Aprasia haroldi) as well as one of the many Variable Sand Dragons (Ctenophorus badius) running around. Bidding Bryce goodbye we headed back to the Overlander to reevaluate our plans.
Now relatively desperate for the right binoei lineage, a nearby station came to the rescue and allowed us to fossick through their dump. Dumps are perfect Heteronotia habitat, and we rapidly began to accumulate the necessary geckos. A yell of goanna from Anuj had us running, with both Stephen and I hoping he’d found a Stripe-tailed Monitor (Varanus caudolineatus). With no other context provided we pulled up next to him, just for Anuj to point dramatically point at a Perentie (Varanus giganteus) watching warily from under a bush. Pretty much as close to polar opposite a caudolineatus as you could get, but always awesome to see. Other finds included more Micro Sliders (L. micra) and a Mottled Ground Gecko (Lucasium squarrosum). Not a huge haul but a big improvement on our sampling for the trip.
