Mission Beach, QLD

[Pythonodipsas]

Awesome post moloch, as always.

I love the butterflies and enjoy reading their interesting names.

How tall is an adult Cassowary?

[moloch]

Thanks very much for the feedback.

Here is a map that highlights the location of Mission Beach. It is well up in wet tropics of the northeastern coast.


The most common venomous species that I encounter is the Eastern Small-eyed Snake . It is one of the small elapids. I also see (rarely) Red-bellied Black Snakes (Pseudechis porphyriacus) during the day. Over the years and many trips, I have seen 1 Coastal Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) crossing a highway, one Northern Death Adder (Acanthophis praelongus), one Northern Dwarf Crowned Snake (Cacophis churchilli), a few Eastern Brown Snakes (Pseudonaja textilis) and one Rough-scaled Snake (Tropidechis carinatus).

Colubrids and Pythons seem to be easier to find. I've seen the following at Mission Beach or nearby areas: Slaty-grey Snake (Stegonotus cucullatus), Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis), Green Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus), Scrub Pythons, Carpet Pythons (this year), Water Python (Liasis mackloti) and (once) Black-headed Python (Aspidites melanocephalus).

Here is a link to more snakes from Mission Beach or areas further north:
viewtopic.php?f=75&t=19235&p=150030&hilit=mission+beach#p150030


Goulds/Yellow-spotted Monitor (Varanus gouldii/panoptes) -- I forgot to add this photo to the post. These goannas in the north are very confusing and hard to separate unlike those from the interior.



Pythonodipsas,
Cassowaries can be as tall as 2m so they are big birds.


Here are a few bird shots from last year. I saw many of these again but the grey, rainy days were not so good for photos:

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo:





White-bellied Sea Eagle



Pied Imperial Pigeon and Black Butcherbird ... a lovely songster with organ-like notes





Regards,
David

[MrG]

Brilliant, thx.

[Bushviper]

Amazing bird pictures too. Thanks for all the info.

Have you tried asking the Australian tourism board to pay for your next trip because the marketing you are doing deserves some rewards?

[Sico]

Fantastic post Moloch, as always. The diversity of Australia has always amazed me and I am hoping one day to get down there and tour the place. I just need a few more friends to emigrate there and I'll be able to stay free of charge just about everywhere