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ACTIVITY BLOG

We have caught up with the times and moved our activity blog and photo albums to our new facebook group. Please visit us on facebook.

Some of these blogs/albums are still available below:
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JOSE'S BLOG

More photos ... Field Trip 1 (Sep/Oct 2012) | Field Trip 2 (Jan 2013)

September/October 2012 | South Australia → Jose & volunteer (Jordan)

The first fieldtrip of my PhD gave me the opportunity to visit several reserves across South Australia. Ngarkat Conservation Park was the first stop. Sadly, the weather did not work in my favour and my volunteer Jordan and I had to leave earlier than expected. Danggali Conservation Park, just above Renmark, proved more successful, and we were able to obtain numerous recordings of Mallee Dragons (Ctenophorus fordi) signalling at each other. Telowie Gorge Conservation Park, a one hour drive south of Port Augusta, is known to be a great spot for Tawny Dragons (Ctenophorus decresii). This beautiful reserve lived up to our expectations. However, the rocky walls of the gorge where the dragons like to bask made positioning the cameras a bit of a challenge. The last park we visited, Gawler Ranges National Park, had the highest density of dragons out of all of them. Territorial interactions between male Peninsula Dragons (Ctenophorus fionni) were commonly observed, and the views from on top of the rocky outcrops were a treat to the eye.

ZEBRA FINCHES

October 1-7 2011 | Fowlers Gap → Christine, Rowan & Richard

Our first of several trips to Fowlers Gap as part of Christine's honours investigation of zebra finch alarm calling - to familiarise ourselves with the surrounds so that we can plan her project more effectively. Christine made good use of the time, trialling a few things, while Rowan and Richard (mostly) did what she told us to do. Throughout the week we identified 94 bird species by sight and an additional 2 by call only - of particular note was the Australian Bustard, which was Rowan's 300th bird. → photos

EAST GIPPSLAND | LIZARD CATCHING

October 24-28 2011 | Lizard catching in East Gippsland → Katy, Shannon, Jose, George & Richard

A successful week catching jacky lizards along the north east coast of Victoria - including Mallacoota, Point Hicks and Croajingalong National Park, and Cape Conran Coastal Reserve. In addition to catching more than enough lizards we also observed lizards mating (see Jose's video on the right), red-bellied black snakes, copperhead snakes, various scincid lizards, humpback whales and over 60 bird species. → Photos

January/February 2011| Lizard catching in East Gippsland → Derek, Jose, Juan & Richard

Richard collected several lizards while on holidays with the family at Point HIcks lighthouse just after the start of the new year. Derek, Juan and Jose went out with Richard again in February in a quick dash for more lizards. Unfortunately, the weather conspired against us on the latter trip and we returned with only 1 lizard. → photos