Townsville 2020 (Part 3)

Townsville (15th-18th)

The mountain that almost killed us.

Day 6

Being woken up by Nick handing you an iced coffee is a rather heavenly experience. It may have been detracted from slightly by several nearby barking dogs and our surrounding playground equipment setting but you can’t have everything. Getting all our stuff back into Ernie as quickly as possible was an ingrained ritual at this point and we were back on the road heading for the road trips original most northerly planned point, Brownsville. A quick stop in at Bowen to check some more mangroves for a Rusty Monitor again turned up empty, although we did manage a minute to watch some Coastal Snake-eyed Skinks (Cryptoblepharus litoralis), and before we knew it we were in Justin’s home town.

The rest of the day passed pretty slowly resupplying ourselves at Justin’s, although the air con and a shower was great. A quick nap and we were back out spotlighting, this time at Justin’s own property near Blue Water Range. 8 days prior, Justin had found an albino baby Keelback (Tropidonophis mairii) getting around one of his dams just before flying down to Sydney, and we were determined to give finding it a crack. An hour or so later and we had the golden noodle in hand, my first wild mutation. The photos don’t quite do the colours justice, it was a soft golden that was rather pleasing, although it wasn’t helped by its terrible modelling skills. Stoked with our re-finding of the same snake over a week since it was first seen we returned back to our mattresses and the air con, although not before a couple of quick photos of a nearby Black-striped Snake (Cryptophis nigrostriatus).

Day 7

We’d initially chosen Townsville as our original end point due to its close proximity to a number of different habitats and herps. One such place is Maggie Island and we were up and on the ferry early the next morning, ready for some skinks. It didn’t take long to find our firsts, with several Stout Bar-sided Skinks (Concinnia sokosoma), Saxicoline Sunskinks (Lampropholis mirabilis), and Orange-flanked Rainbow-skinks (Carlia rubigo) found pottering around close to the beach, along with our first Maggie Island Black-headed Monitor (Varanus tristis). From there things slowed down a little as we made our way around the island in the blistering sun, hoping for one of the well known local Death Adders. It was not to be however, although a second V. tristis temporarily raised our spirits. Eventually making it back to the main residential area we settled in for a cool drink in the air con. A final Elegant Rainbow-skink (Carlia decora) and Maggie Island Bynoe’s Gecko (Heteronotia binoei) waved us off as we departed back to the mainland. Hopefully we’ll be back soon as the Speckled Worm-skink (Anomalopus gowi) and the Magnetic Island Dwarf Skink (Pygmaescincus sadlieri) remained elusive. The rest of the day passed slowly as we prepared for the next days walk, it was going to be a big one.

Day 8

Mt Elliot dominates the southern skyline of Brownsville and forms a southerly, isolated refuge for many rainforest species, the perfect site for reptile and frog speciation. And speciate they have, with the mountain boasting two endemic skinks, one gecko and one frog, our targets for the day. Picking up Sven early in the morning, we arrived on site at 8:30 AM and set out on what would be the most gruelling day of the trip. A 7km walk into the base of our chosen creek in baking sun and steamy, January humidity was only the warmup for the rest of the day. An hour-long break in a swimming hole was well in order as we put off the next part of the walk, the real climb. From there we began the brutal uphill battle through vine thicket and open rock faces. Finally leaving the open rock we collapsed in the creek for the second time, just after midday. Another appropriate rest later and we were within possible habitat for our first target, the Mt Elliot Mulch Skink (Glaphyromorphus clandestinus). Unlike the other endemics, G. clandestinus favours the edges of the rainforest under loose, exfoliating rock. It took some time and numerous missed individuals but we were finally able to track down a purplish juvenile for photos. Due to its small size and fossorial nature, the photos turned out pretty average but we were all stoked with our first endemic for the day.

Moving on, we continued up the creek in search of higher altitudes and true, closed in rainforest, the habitat of the Mt Elliot Nursery Frog (Cophixalus mcdonaldi). Making our way up the creek was a slow process, hindered by slippery rocks and steep banks. Luckily, there was numerous skinks to keep us company (Northern Bar-sided Skinks (C. brachysoma), Saxicoline Sunskinks (L. mirabilis) and Pale-lipped Shade-skinks (S. basiliscus)). Although we knew the Mt Elliot Sunskink (L. elliotensis) would be nearby, we largely dismissed it in favour of reaching an area suitable for the frog. However, the herp gods decided to smile upon us with a rare act of generosity, and Justin was suddenly yelling that he was looking at one. One successful photo shoot later and 2/4 endemics down and we were on a high. Climbing higher still the light began to fade and with it, in came the clouds and mist. We were losing light fast when we finally arrived at a suitable spot and we spread out, desperately searching for the frog as the rain began to increase. 15 minutes later and I’d signed off on our chance to find one, despite the occasional sporadic calls we could hear in the distance. Justin wasn’t done though, and soon enough he was yelling he had one. Possibly the quickest frog photoshoot ever followed, as we were all aware of just how far we were from the car and the incredibly slippery rocks that now lay between us. Looking back down the creek, all you could see was fog and the occasional outline of rocks just visible in the gloom.

Making our way back down the creek was now even slower, the light but steady rain had turned even the most sure of footsteps into a tentative shuffle. Sven soon called out that he had the gecko, despite it not being fully dark yet, and we all crowded around a crevice and gazed upon our second Townsville Phyllurus sp., the Riverine Leaf-tailed Gecko (Phyllurus amnicola), and the final endemic on Mt Elliot. A photoshoot was dismissed due to just how tired we were and the geckos regen tail and we left him undisturbed. Not long after and we hit a major problem, exposed wiring on Justin’s head torch had broken and there was no replacement. Reduced to a caterpillar formation we continued crab crawling down the ever-steeper creek. We soon got our second chance to photograph a gecko though as I spotted ones eyeshine on the other bank. With the rain now stopped and this one being a perfect specimen we cracked out the cameras once more. With all endemics now photographed it was time to get off this nightmare of a creek line and slowly but surely we made it back to the bottom of the rock. The final 7kms seemed to take forever and was only broken up by the appearance of a feisty hatchling Scrub Python (Simalia kinghorni), Nick’s fingers can attest to their willingness to fight. It was just before midnight when we finally stumbled into the carpark, exhausted conquerors of Elliot.

Day 9

The next day passed in a haze of sore legs and extreme tiredness, I spent the majority of it passed out on a mattress in the air con. We’d defeated Mt Elliot but it had come at a heavy price. The only reptile to be had that day was a good one though. A quick relocation of a beautiful, juvenile Rusty Monitor (Varanus semiremex) saw us net some nice photos without paying the price of hours of wading through muddy mangroves. Hopefully she’s still doing well in the mangroves we chose for her. Choosing to save our strength for the next few days, we spent the remaining hours resupplying the ute and getting ready for the Atherton Tablelands.

Townsville (15th-18th)

Townsville 2020 (Part 4)

Townsville 2020 (Part 2)