Going on another Excursion

[Baccus]

I'm going to be heading off on another little field trip, this time to a creek that runs between Biloela and Gladstone called Bells Creek. I am not sure what I will find, the last time I went along that creek it was pretty dry so hardly any flow,  winter I believe, mostly rocky and little plant life. Also my test netting was pretty slack, because I was being hurried up by the other half. I do recall getting good old reliable macrobachium and some looked like glass shrimp. But this time I think I will be trying to concentrate on possible snails, and will be aiming for anything that doesn't look like MTS or other snails that I know are easily found anywhere.

If I am really lucky I might even get a chance to go to some brackish creeks closer to the coast and look for nerites. So far I have only found one species of brackish nerite in my general area and they where down in a polluted tidal creek/ pond/ storm water in Gladstone.

The camera will be going with me so photos will be taken on the trip. along with any interesting finds I may get.

[Madmerv]

Good luck mate. looking forward to seeing the results.

[Baccus]

So after a long day (ended up going to Turkey Beach as well as out west) I am finally home and awake enough to get some pictures up.

The creek is called Bells Creek on Rainbow Mountain Road, its gravel the whole way and eventually pops out at the back of Callide Mine Boundary Hill. There is multiple creek crossings most were very similar plant wise, some where dry and others had obvious pig activity and cows had access to all the water courses.

 

The water was crystal clear in most of the creeks but silted up quickly as soon as you stepped into the water or tried to net a fish

This crossing was teeming with fish that from what I could make out where a mix of rainbows and some type of hardyhead. But they where very skittish

Lots of these snails on some of the rocks, but since they looked like bladder snails I didn't bother collecting any

There where cane toad tadpoles but also these pretty little tadpoles, I will check my frog book later to try and confirm their id.

Very good at blending in

There where also gudgeons (purple spot I believe)

A macro even showed itself and I found what looked like glass shrimp in the thick plants

Hardyhead?

No real idea what this fish is, there where quite a lot and no matter what angle I saw them on they had the bright fluro orange colouration. I tried catching them but they where too quick for me.

Stay tuned for stage two.... the snails that I did collect a fish that originally I thought was another flyspecked hardyhead but closer insepection it seems to be another type and a surprise at Turkey Beach

 

[Baccus]

Continuing on....

a close up of the bladder type snails

A close up of the pretty tadpole

The closest id I can get for this tadpole is the Giant Barred Frog, but as far as I can tell they should not be in Central Queensland but rather further south in South East QLD and into NSW.

Hardyhead?

I am sure its a hardyhead but not the fly specked I usually encounter. I will try to get some better clearer shots of it today

One of the snails I did collect

I did collect another snail that has a flat spiral shell, but am still trying to get some picture of it that do it justice.

We were being watched from high overhead by a pair of wedgetails,

And the surprise at Turkey Beach....

a frill neck, I have not seen one in over 20 years so I was excited about seeing this big guy on the road. As you can see he did not appreciate my interest in him LOL

[Madmerv]

Nice report mate. Beautiful scenery and great photo's.

Glad you got some specimens to.

[Baccus]

Finally some pictures of the other snail I found with the very flat spiral shell. Where a Ramshorn would hold its shell upright this snail tends to lay its shell on its side making its entire body very slim.

This last picture best shows the snail keeping its shell flat against a surface.

[Baccus]

This is the little hardyhead I am having some trouble identifying, sorry about the clarity of the pictures but it is quite golden unlike the flyspecked that I already have that have more of a greenie/ blue/ silver body stripe. It also doesn't have any obvious spots like the flyspecked.

All the closest looking hardyheads I can find in a book I have on identifying native fresh water fish are found out in the middle of Australia or Western Australia so I pretty much am ruling those ones out of the equation.

Has anyone else seen goldish hardyheads like this before?

With flash

No flash again

I will try to get some clearer pictures later, its very skittish and my shutter speed in conjunction with macro setting just can not cope with its quick direction changes.

 

 

 

[TOTAL TROPICALS]

Fish looks more like a smelt to me.