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Cape York paradise at Portland Roads

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Snakes Cape York

January 8, 2012 by Seamus Campbell

Beautiful big python at our backdoor

The other night I was met at our back door by a 3.5m python. It was very quiet and relaxed but it too big to have around the house.

Earlier in the day some of our little birds had been getting quite agitated and making warning noises, but I couldn’t see anything at the time. So I think the python had eaten something from our garden.

I asked our neighbour to help bag it and then I re-located it on the banks of a nearby creek.

He grabbed the python and I helped put it in a bag – this was my first time handling a snake like this; it was very strong – two of us struggled to get it in the bag.

I then drove to a nearby creek and let the python out on the bank – it seemed like a nice place for a big python to live.

Curled up behind the house
Curled up behind the house
python at Portland Roads
A bit of the python at it’s new home

python coming inside
Coming in our backdoor
python close-up
On the mat at our backdoor

python at Portland Roads
Moving away from the back door

Filed Under: Snakes Cape York Tagged With: python Cape York, reptiles Cape York, snakes Cape York

January 1, 2012 by Seamus Campbell

Orange-naped snake

This little Orange-naped snake (Furina ornata) was hiding next to our outside stairs. In spite of it’s very, very  bright orange colouring, it was well camouflaged in the dull brown leaf litter.

I presume it was a young one as it was only about 30 cms long –  they apparently grow to around 70 cms.

Orange-naped snake
Such beautiful colours!
Orange-naped snake
Orange-naped snake – 30 cms long

Orange-naped snake
Orange-naped snake (Furina ornata)
Orange-naped snake
Orange-naped snake hiding – vivid bright orange colours

Orange-naped snake hiding
Orange-naped snake hiding in the leaf litter

Filed Under: Snakes Cape York Tagged With: reptiles Cape York, snakes Cape York

December 21, 2011 by Cate

Fly/drive/stay deal – the wet season is the best time for wildlife

You can Fly into Cape York and spend some time exploring. There is heaps to see in just one area. Explore the Iron Range National Park, Chili Beach and Lockhart River area from Portland Roads.

To encourage people to visit Portland Roads Beach Shack during the wet season, we have negotiated deals with Skytrans and Lockhart River Car Hire so that our customers can get discounts when booking through us.

Filed Under: Aboriginal Culture, Birdwatching Cape York, Cape York Accommodation, Chili Beach, Exploring Cape York, Fishing Cape York, Frogs of Cape York, Insects of Cape York, Iron Range National Park, Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park, Portland Roads, Snakes Cape York, Wildlife of Cape York Tagged With: Cape York 4wd, Cape York Accommodation, cape york in the wet, Cape York travel

December 5, 2011 by Cate

Jade coloured tree snake

This colourful tree snake is very long. At the other end his colour changes to an olive green. He is living under this water tank in our yard.

Jade coloured tree snake, Portland Roads

Jade coloured tree snake, Portland Roads

Filed Under: Portland Roads, Snakes Cape York Tagged With: reptiles Cape York, snakes Cape York

July 18, 2011 by Cate

Dark-shouldered snake eel. Ophichthus cephalozona

Ophichthus cephalozona by Ben Naden
Ophichthus cephalozona, a photo by Ben Naden on Flickr.

Here is a better photo of our sea creature, taken on North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Filed Under: Fishing Cape York, Portland Roads, Snakes Cape York, Wildlife of Cape York

July 18, 2011 by Cate

Strange sea creature

sea-creature-portland-roads

Dark-shouldered snake eel

When we first got here and walked at low tide we spotted one of these strange creatures, when I asked around no one had seen anything like it, a sea snake with a frilled neck sounded pretty unlikely. Nothing came up on google and I had no picture to post on the forums.

We just spotted another and got a photo, I put it up on a snake and python forum and some brilliant mind has identified it for us! Apparently it is known in these northern waters and many countries across the tropics see fishbase.

Dark-shouldered snake eel - closeup on head

Dark-shouldered snake eel

 

 

Filed Under: Fishing Cape York, Portland Roads, Snakes Cape York, Wildlife of Cape York

December 25, 2010 by Seamus Campbell

Jun Matsui photos – Dec 2010

We had 2 guests stay for a week in December this year – a birdwatcher and a guide (Jun Matsui) from Sicklebill Safaris. They had flown in to Lockhart, hired a 4wd and stayed with us.

Jun (the guide) found a cuscus in one of our mango trees just up the road; came running back to tell us – of course we were all terribly excited and very thankful that he’d made the effort to let us know.

We watched it eat a couple of mangos for about 30 minutes. Thanks Jun!

He also sent us the following photos.

Spotted Cuscus - photo Jun Matsui
Spotted Cuscus – photo Jun Matsui
Spotted Cuscus - photo Jun Matsui
Spotted Cuscus – photo Jun Matsui
Palm Cockatoo - photo Jun Matsui
Palm Cockatoo – photo Jun Matsui

Palm Cockatoo - photo Jun Matsui
Palm Cockatoo – photo Jun Matsui
Eclectus Parrot Male - photo Jun Matsui
Eclectus Parrot Male – photo Jun Matsui
Eclectus Parrot Female - photo Jun Matsui
Eclectus Parrot Female – photo Jun Matsui

Green Tree Python - photo Jun Matsui
Green Tree Python – photo Jun Matsui
White-faced Robin - photo Jun Matsui
White-faced Robin – photo Jun Matsui
Soldier Crab - photo Jun Matsui
Soldier Crab – photo Jun Matsui

Red Lacewing - photo Jun Matsui
Red Lacewing – photo Jun Matsui
Large-tailed Nightjar - photo Jun Matsui
Large-tailed Nightjar – photo Jun Matsui
Frill-necked Monarch - photo Jun Matsui
Frill-necked Monarch – photo Jun Matsui

Echidna - photo Jun Matsui
Echidna – photo Jun Matsui
Cape York Melomys - photo Jun Matsui
Cape York Melomys – photo Jun Matsui
Black-headed Python - photo Jun Matsui
Black-headed Python – photo Jun Matsui

Filed Under: Birdwatching Cape York, Cape York Accommodation, Portland Roads, Snakes Cape York, Wildlife of Cape York Tagged With: birds of Cape York, birdwatching, Cape York Care Hire, Jun Matsui

December 23, 2010 by Seamus Campbell

Python and Cane Toad – 17th Nov 2010

I heard a strange scuffling, scrunching sound outside our verandah. Looked over the edge and on the lawn noticed a small 80 cm or so long python inexorably dragging a much larger cane toad back along the grass.

The cane toad appeared stunned and although obviously alive, struggled very little. The python was only about 25-30 mm in diameter and the toad about 60-65 mm. The snake dragged it back about 3 meters to its lair in a rock wall. The cane toad grabbed onto grass and rocks on the way with its front claws but other than did not struggle at all. I was worried that the toad would kill the python once it was ingested, but wasn’t quite willing to tap the python on the nose and say “No”.
It took the python about 25 minutes to get the toad back to its hole in the wall.

It then slowly engulfed the toad – this was repulsive but fascinating.

The snake finally swallowed the whole cane toad – the whole process took over an hour.

python full of canetoad

Filed Under: Snakes Cape York Tagged With: python Cape York, reptiles Cape York, snakes Cape York

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