This trip had two main goals. First of them was to try to collect
and examine for parasites Chelodina steindachneri from Western Australia,
primarily in the Pilbara region. This turtle species is found in several river
drainages north of Perth and is known for its ability to persist in water bodies
where water is occasional or seasonal. Absolutely nothing was known about parasites
of these turtles. With good advise from WA herpetologists we were able to collect
these turtles from several localities and obtain their parasites. The second goal
of the trip was to collect additional specimens from turtles in the Northern Territory
because we had too few (or only juvenile) specimens of several species. We collected
turtles from new sites north and east of Darwin. All new specimens are currently
being processed in the lab.
 |
 |
Ringneck parrot having breakfast |
Large spider at night |
 |
 |
Cooking in outback is a challenge |
Some of the wonderful rock formations |
 |
 |
A typical inland Western Australian landscape |
A pair of painted finches stopped by |
 |
 |
Seashore at Shark Bay consists mainly of mollusk shells |
Famous stromatolites - "living rocks" responsible for saturation
of atmosphere with oxygen at the dawn of life on Earth |
 |
 |
Some butterflies seem to be quite social |
Sunrise at a collecting site |
 |
 |
A turtle in the trap |
Pinnacles of Pilbara - another Australian geological wonder |
 |
 |
Frogs were common in cane toad-free Western Australia |
Our alarm clock - loudly laughing Australian crow |
 |
 |
Aquatic birds concentrate in rare freshwater lagoons |
Beautiful sulphur-crested cockatoo has a terrible voice |
 |
 |
Turtles have been an element of aboriginal culture for thousands of years |
Rock wallaby in Kakadu National Park |
 |
 |
Whistling ducks feel equally comfortable on the tree tops and in water |
Wonderful file snakes went into turtle traps |
 |
 |
A rare case of paternal care among freshwater fishes |
Galaahs are common, but always welcomed |
 |
 |
Another, not so common, parrot |
In contrast, rainbow lorikeets are very common and are among the most colorful
parrots |
 |
 |
Magnetic termites in Litchfield National Park |
Small skinks are common and constitute main food component of many snakes |
 |
 |
Australian huge road trains may be a hassle on a narrow road |
We crossed Tropic of Capricorn back and forth |
 |
 |
Mike pulled a trap with a load of file snakes |
Emergency heat-killing of worms at dusk with saline heated on fire |
 |
 |
Chelodina steindachneri from Kalgan Creek!!! |
Vasyl detected this "night tiger" form of brown tree snake right
by his foot at the camp site |
 |
A lucky crocodile was larger than allowed
by our permit and was released |
 |
 |
Spiders are omnipresent and extremely diverse in Australia |
Cathedral termite mounds can be really tall |
