Broken Hill and Menindee, NSW. Mar 2014

These are photos from a quick trip out to Broken Hill and Menindee in northwestern New South Wales. These areas are quite a distance from Canberra where I am currently working. I clocked over 3500 kms of driving in 4 days so I spent much of my time behind the steering wheel. As always, though, it was lots of fun to venture into the outback again.

On the return trip, I spent a night and early morning in Cocoparra National Park near Griffith, NSW. This was my first visit to the park and it was good to see and is well worth a return visit. Gorges in the park were rocky and trees included many cypress pine. The park was good for parrots and I saw Turquoise Parrots, Mulga Parrots and Glossy Black Cockatoos in the tree above my tent while I ate breakfast.


map by moloch05, on Flickr

• B: Broken Hill
  C: about 70kms north of Broken Hill along the road to Tibooburra
  D: Menindee/Kinchega NP
  E: Cocoparra NP
  F: Canberra

The habitat north of Broken Hill was bleak. Shrubs were small and widely spaced.

habitat north of Broken Hill2 by moloch05, on Flickr

habitat north of Broken Hill by moloch05, on Flickr

habitat north of Broken Hill4 by moloch05, on Flickr


Drainages did support big Eucalyptus:

habitat north of Broken Hill3 by moloch05, on Flickr


This rock outcrop was along the road north of Broken Hill. I've always thought that there should be lizards here but have never previously seen anything at all. On this trip, I found three species of skinks. I think that it was probably a result of milder temperatures in the autumn (28C) rather than the searing heat of summer (40C+).

Gidgee Skink Egernia stokesii habitat1 by moloch05, on Flickr


Gidgee Skink (Egernia stokesii): The outcrop in the previous shot was the home for a colony of these Gidgee Skinks. I saw 5 but there were probably more. These skinks were super shy and required a stealthy approach behind cover to get within range for photos. I liked this one that seemed to be surveying the land where it lived.

Gidgee Skink Egernia stokesii1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Gidgee Skink Egernia stokesii3 by moloch05, on Flickr

Gidgee Skink Egernia stokesii2 by moloch05, on Flickr

Boulenger's Snake-eyed Skink (Morethia boulengeri): This little juvenile was on the same outcrop as the Gidgee Skinks. It fed on tiny ants that it would thrash and pound on the rock before swallowing.

Juvenile Morethia boulengeri1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Juvenile Morethia boulengeri2 by moloch05, on Flickr


Gibber Gecko (Lucasium byrnei): These geckos live on the rocky flats were plants are sparse. On this trip, I only saw two but they can be abundant in the spring.
... warming itself on the road:

Lucasium byrnei4 by moloch05, on Flickr



Lucasium byrnei1a by moloch05, on Flickr

Lucasium byrnei2 by moloch05, on Flickr

Lucasium byrnei3 by moloch05, on Flickr



Bynoe's Gecko (Heteronotia binoei): I only saw one of these north of Broken Hill.

Heteronotia binoei1 by moloch05, on Flickr


Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca): I was surprised on this trip to see this exotic species. I knew this plant from southern California where it is also a common exotic. There, it was almost always attended by a variety of hummingbirds.

Nicotiana glauca1 by moloch05, on Flickr





Habitat between Broken Hill and Menindee was mostly arid shrubland that supported a number of species of chenopods and amaranths. Bluebush (Maireana sp.) was one of the most conspicuous shrubs.

habitat near Minindee3 by moloch05, on Flickr

habitat near Minindee2 by moloch05, on Flickr

Bluebush (Maireana sp.)

habitat near Minindee4 by moloch05, on Flickr


Galahs were abundant in this habitat.

Galah1 by moloch05, on Flickr



Box-patterned Geckos (Lucasium steindachneri) were common in the shrubland habitat.

Lucasium steindachneri6 by moloch05, on Flickr

Lucasium steindachneri3 by moloch05, on Flickr

Lucasium steindachneri5 by moloch05, on Flickr

Lucasium steindachneri11 by moloch05, on Flickr

Their disruptive colour pattern made them hard to spot when on dry stems of grass:

Lucasium steindachneri8 by moloch05, on Flickr


Here is a collage of shots to show the variability in dorsal colouration and pattern.

Lucasium steindachneri800 by moloch05, on Flickr



Bynoe's Gecko (Heteronotia binoei): These geckos were common near my campsite above Menindee Lake.

Heteronotia binoei13 by moloch05, on Flickr

Heteronotia binoei12 by moloch05, on Flickr



Tessellated Gecko (Diplodactylus tessellatus): This one was sucking up the warmth from the road. Most geckos that I saw were like this ... pressed tight against the road surface. The night temps were a little cool and dropped to 19C.

Diplodactylus tesselatus2 by moloch05, on Flickr

Diplodactylus tesselatus3 by moloch05, on Flickr

Diplodactylus tesselatus5 by moloch05, on Flickr

Diplodactylus tesselatus6 by moloch05, on Flickr





Boulengers Snake-eyed Skink (Morethia boulengeri): I found a colony of these skinks on tree stumps near Menindee Lake. The behaved much like Grass Skinks here on the coast.

Boulengers Snake-eyed Skink Morethia boulengeri1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Boulengers Snake-eyed Skink Morethia boulengeri2 by moloch05, on Flickr

Boulengers Snake-eyed Skink Morethia boulengeri3 by moloch05, on Flickr


Inland Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps): I only saw a few of these dragons on this trip.

Pogona vitticeps1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Pogona vitticeps3 by moloch05, on Flickr

Pogona vitticeps2 by moloch05, on Flickr

... this one was basking in the afternoon sun from a shrub:

Pogona vitticeps10a by moloch05, on Flickr


... "hiding"

Pogona vitticeps11 by moloch05, on Flickr


Curl Snake (Suta suta): I saw four of this small species of elapid.

Suta suta1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Suta suta3 by moloch05, on Flickr

Suta suta2 by moloch05, on Flickr



This Centipede (Ethmostigmus rubripes, thanks Nick) was feasting on a road-killed Neobatrachis.

centipede1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Neobatrachus sudelli

frog1 by moloch05, on Flickr



Black Kite: This flock in Kinchega NP was waiting for thermals to begin.

bird Black Kite by moloch05, on Flickr

Bluebonnet: These parrots were numerous near Menindee.

bird Bluebonnet1 by moloch05, on Flickr



Chirruping Wedgebill: These Whipbird relatives were one of the most conspicuous species near Broken Hill and Menindee. They called for a couple of hours or so in the morning and then again in the evening.

bird Chirruping Wedgebill by moloch05, on Flickr



Emus were also a frequent sight. They almost always seemed be looking for a way around fencelines.

bird Emu1 by moloch05, on Flickr



Meadow Argus (Junonia villida): I saw a few of these along with Australian Painted Ladies.

Meadow Argus Junonia villida by moloch05, on Flickr



Two-spotted Line-blue (Nacaduba biocellata): This species was abundant near flowering shrubs.

Nacaduba biocellata (Two-spotted Line-blue)1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Nacaduba biocellata (Two-spotted Line-blue) collage by moloch05, on Flickr



Saltbush Blue (Theclinesthes serpentata): Present but not nearly as common as the Two-spotted Line-blues.

Saltbush Blue Theclinesthes serpentata1 by moloch05, on Flickr




Mallee Woodland between Broken Hill and Mildura. I only spent a half-hour here but it would be a good place to explore. I would love to walk here at night since there must be some interesting geckos in this habitat. — in Broken Hill.

habitat mallee1 by moloch05, on Flickr


Mallee Military Dragon (Ctenophorus fordi)

Ctenophorus fordi1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Ctenophorus fordi2 by moloch05, on Flickr

Ctenophorus fordi4 by moloch05, on Flickr

... these dragons had long toes. They would kick up a little cloud of sand when the jumped to run.

Ctenophorus fordi6 by moloch05, on Flickr



Desert Skink (Liopholis inornata), juvenile. This little skink was lucky to be alive. I saw it in the middle of a busy highway. I stopped the car and raced back to it. Somehow, the little lizard made it safely to the shoulder and I was able to take a few shots of it. Road trains were racing by less than a meter from the lizard but it completely ignored them. Eventually, it headed back into the mallee.

Desert Skink Liopholis inornata1 by moloch05, on Flickr

Desert Skink Liopholis inornata2 by moloch05, on Flickr



... Later, I will post more shots from Cocoparra NP.