COG members might recall previous emails from me of my Rosenberg's Monitor
sightings on Mt Ainslie, at Googong and in Namadgi. These impressive reptiles
are not numerous in the ACT (they are officially 'Vulnerable' in NSW) and
seeing them is special.
Having learned that they lay their eggs in active termite mounds around Feb,
with hatching around Sept, and that the major predator of the egg stashes is
other Rosenberg's, I've been keeping an eye out for possible mound breeding
sites on Mt Ainslie. Don Fletcher (ACT Govt) and I (as a volunteer) mounted
several automatic cameras near mounds in March to see if we could get shots of
monitors or breeding activity. We have retrieved the cams and yes there are
several photos of a monitor at one of the mounds - not engaged in egg-laying
but there nevertheless. So, photo evidence for Mt Ainslie at last. We look
forward to reinstating the cams in Sept when hatching at the mounds is quite a
possibility.
Pic attached (Rosenbergs at left, probably a bit under a metre in length; cam
was directly above mound. Mound shows possible evidence of egg-burial
indentation, following repair by active termites).
Cheers
Matthew Higgins
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