Three Archey’s frogs, five Hochstetter’s frogs, three Coromandel striped geckos, and one forest gecko… all seen in less than a 24 hour period! Whenever we visit Sara and Ro out at Mahakirau Forest Estate, we are always spoilt with wildlife encounters.
Tag: Herpetology
Plague Skinks (Lampropholis delicata) at Gordon Park Scenic Reserve, Whanganui, NZ
This Tuesday, Tom and I joined a team of volunteers to tackle some of the invasive plant species at Gordon Park Scenic Reserve, Whanganui. Whilst we were there, we came across a clutch of skink eggs and a number of skinks basking in the sun in a newly-planted area. Gordon Park Scenic Reserve Gordon Park…
A Few Forest Frogs
Frogs? Amphibians? What’s the Fuss? I have always loved frogs, ever since I was a little boy. I still haven’t put my finger on what exactly mesmerises me so much. Is it their slippery skin, their hopping legs and huge eyes? Is it their diversity, the number of different body shapes and colours they exhibit?…
Common Wall Lizards Basking in Basque Country
Across a gently flowing stream high in the forested mountains of the Basque Country, Spain, I spotted two basking common European wall lizards (Podarcis muralis). Without hesitation (like any good ecologist) I waded across the water to inspect. These two lizards (photographed at some distance with a 600mm telephoto lens) looked a lot like the…
Getting to Know UK Wildlife: The Great Crested Newt
Like is the story with so many species, the great crested newt has suffered at the hands of habitat modification, primarily in the form of agricultural intensification. Due to this, their populations declined markedly during the latter part of the twentieth century. And, although they are currently widespread, there is cause for concern because populations are still being lost or damaged.
Exploring the Malaysian Jungle: Endau-Rompin National Park
Tom and I spend the southern hemisphere’s summer in New Zealand, my home country, and the northern hemisphere’s summer in England, Tom’s home country. We follow the summer because it is also the ecology season when we get most work. The flight can be pretty long when you have to travel half-way around the globe, so…
A Rare and Elusive Species: The Coromandel Striped Gecko (Toropuku “Coromandel”)
…only 28 individuals have been identified and recorded up until 12th November 2014. I am not aware of any updates to the database, but know that additional animals have been found since. I can be sure of this as Emma and I with our wildlife-spotting friends, Sara and Ro, came across two presumably new individuals that night!
Hochstetter’s Frog – 1 of the 4 Native New Zealand Frog Species
We had been instructed by our knowledgeable friends that if we were to turn over a few stones we would be in luck. No word of a lie, a few stones later we had found our first Hochstetter’s.
Meeting Archey’s Frog – The World’s Most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) Amphibian Species
I need not tell you how excited I was to visit some friends residing in one of the only places in the world where I could get to see the world’s most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered amphibian species, the Archey’s Frog.
ZOOMOLOGY BLOG 