A few photographs from the past six weeks.

 I've been a bit slack with the blog and I apologise for that. Motivation to write has been low. I have been on the odd night drive and weekend bushwalk but nothing very exciting so you haven't missed much anyway. I have also joined a local frog survey group recently which is itself a good reason to get out and I have met some very nice people in the process which has been a real bonus. 

Below are a few photo's which basically sum up the extent of my interactions with nature so far in 2015. The first couple are fungi which after our substantial rain events of the past month or so is prevalent in the right locations. The first is a plain old bracket fungi and the second I have no idea of the name but I reckon it is the most spectacular fungi that I can recall seeing for a very long time. The colour was vibrant and it covered quite a large area, probably fifty centimetres in length at least. The smaller format photo really doesn't do it justice though.

                                   

The Logrunner below was busily turning over litter in search of food late in the day in a small patch of sub tropical forest not far from home.

The nest was in another patch of vine forest on private land and was a real feat of engineering and no more than a metre from the ground. The photo doesn't highlight the intricacies of the design or construction.

                                     

Some of the frogs from the past six weeks.

A large female Stoney Creek frog out and about during the day. She was hiding in the grass only a few metres from where a large Red-bellied Black Snake had been observed basking just the day before.

 

A Cane Toad viewed from a slightly different angle to normal. I can't get over the stunning eyes, shame they are introduced and such a pest.

 

A copper-backed Brood frog. A stunning little critter as well and often very difficult to locate even when calling. Shame I didn't notice the grass stem on its back.

 

The next three photos are Dusky Gungans which are also extremely difficult to locate at any time. they are also one of the most variable small frogs in terms of colour and pattern, although these were all fairly similar in appearance.

 

A Dwarf or Eastern Sedge Frog. Cute and noisy little critters. This one was competing with a couple of other males in the pot plants outside my back door.

 

A dark Giant Barred Frog. One of a number recorded on one of the frog surveys recently. Good to see them around in reasonable numbers on the coast.

 

A sub adult Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk. Another beautiful species which can be quite variable in colour and pattern.

 

The lizards have been hard to find although I have seen quite a few small skinks which have been way too fast and not keen to hang around for photos.

A Southern Angle Headed Dragon from the same patch of rainforest as the Logrunner and the fungi.

 

A couple of Murray's Skinks. There were quite a few of these out and about very late in the day and I took far too many photos of them but I'll only bore you with a couple.

 

The turtles. Some of the best shots (in terms of identification shots for the book) I have of three local species which was pretty exciting. The first is an adult Saw-shelled turtle.

 

 A Macquarie Turtle. 

 

  

And finally a Krefft's turtle. A beautiful shot in a classic pose taken from a considerable distance by my wife Deb. I wish that my hand was steady enough to get shots like this with the zoom. I could have taken the time to set up a tripod but would have missed the shot if I did.

 

Finally the snakes. Not many and not much of a variety but you can't expect too much when you don't try hard enough.

 

A carpet python around 1.2 metres in length that flatly refused to sit still for a photo.

 

Brown Tree Snake. Pretty typical specimen for the area.

 

 Red-naped Snake. Not a great shot unfortunately. I think he had been clipped by a car as his behaviour was erratic with unusual spasmodic movements.

 

A Small-eyed Snake that was cruising around on my back veranda after a long nights driving with very little result. Probably should have stayed home and gone for a walk instead.

 

And finally a stunning dark almost black sub adult Eastern Brown Snake.

Another relocation animal.
 

That's it for now. I will make a concerted effort not to leave it so long between posts in future and hopefully be back with some more photos soon.
Still really keen for some feedback from anyone if you're out there.

Thanks,

Mike.