I’m laying on top of Corrunbral Borawah, a rocky peak also known as the Governor, in Kaputar National Park with my right eye pressed almost to the ground. My phone in my hand, as I try to see into a finger-sized crack. A reptilian eye stares back at me and I slowly back off, trying to lure the large skink towards the patch of sun it was just enjoying.
It emerges a little, enough for me to snap a picture with sufficient detail to identify whether it is a critically endangered Kaputar rock skink (Egernia roomi), a more common White’s skink, or a spiky tailed Cunningham skink. I move back a few more metres and grab my camera with a zoom, hoping to capture a full body shot.
We have driven the six hours north-west from Newcastle to go climbing, but have already spent an hour walking the 15 minute approach, photographing every reptile we can find. After another five minutes, I give up and am moving to our abseil rope, when I spot a White’s skink. It is basking happily, not at all perturbed by our
