Tidbinbilla Part 2 - Reptiles and Insects

[calissa]

Foreshadowing: it's a literary device.



This was the very first thing I saw when I stepped out of the car. It's probably a little hard to tell, but the dark area is a swarm of ants.



I love the artwork they have around the wetland sanctuary.





I took the dragonflies mostly for lark_ascends, who does a far better job of it than I do.

We saw two Gippsland Water Dragons--one in the wild and one in captivity.





I'm pretty sure the water dragon below mugged the blue-tongue lizard and was trying to cover it up by sitting over the sign.





Whaddaya lookin'at, punk?



Red-bellies are pretty venomous, but not all that aggressive. Fortunately, we had plenty of warning of this one from a family who'd been travelling the other direction along the path. It slid along the bank, then fell into the creek... maybe by accident or maybe after the small lizard in the mud. Red-bellies swim quite well.





I'm pretty sure this one thought I had food. It gave me the side-eye when none was forthcoming.



I'm still processing the last of the photos, so stay tuned for Part 3: Birds.

Comments

[calissa]

Turtle-thing has claws, so perhaps I was mistaken in calling it a turtle. I don't currently have any field guides covering reptiles. Might have to remedy that.

I have no idea what was going on with the ants. It did seem rather strange and it was high enough up that it was difficult to tell what was going on.

[onewhitecrow]

It's in the water, though, that makes it at least a terrapin. We-ell, if you learn the names of things, you gain power over them. Or at least the power to know what their names are and what they do, which might be useful if, say, some species only like swimming holes with resident crocodiles to scavenge from...

No wingy ones?

[calissa]

Forewarned is forearmed, after all.

No wingy ants that I saw. I'm thinking there must have been something tasty, because there were a few butterflies that kept trying to get there.