1. A Lined Earless Dragon
(Tympanocryptis lineata) was one
of the highlights of pitfalling. Image
by Matthew Brun.
2. A few Fat-tailed Dunnarts
(Sminthopsis crassicaudata) were
also bagged in the pitfall traps.
Image by Matthew Brun.
3. The Thick-tailed Geckos
(Underwoodisaurus milii) in
western NSW are literally giants!
Image by Simon Gorta.
3.
head out to conduct a survey of a Tree Dtella population
on the northern part of the property. An academic who
studies Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) biology and
ecology at the station has an
array of nest boxes he sets
up annually to help collect
data on the finches’ breed-
ing. However, he soon
found out that as soon as the
finches moved out at the end
of the season the dtellas
moved in, as the boxes act
as excellent artificial refuges. So we sent students off to
survey various elements of the dtella population across
these nest boxes. The northern section of the property is
one of my favourite landscapes at the station as it shifts
from the typical gibber that dominates the region to a
wonderful sandy loam.
One morning, after a particu-
larly quick pitfall trapping
session (absent of animals),
we thought we might take the
students out to one of the
dams to look for an
Australian Bustard (Ardeotis
australis) that had been
spotted there a few days
before. Unfortunately, we had no luck finding the
bustard, however there was plenty of activity on the
ground with tonnes of Leonhard’s Ctenotus (Ctenotus
leonhardii) running from shrub to shrub. We had
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