We took a 1000km detour through Longreach, Winton and Boulia to get to Cravens Peak station. A long way to go but the Windorah-Bedourie road was closed.

We saw a few nice critters along the way and some great country. I'd love to revisit some of those areas, particularly north of Jundah/South of Longreach.

These red tailed black cockatoos were sitting quietly in the shade in the heat of the day.

We drove on into the night after hitting Winton. There were quail on the road that turned out to be red chested button quail. Pity I didn't see a live one. It would ahve been a new species for me.

A few reptiles came out and showed themselves.

This Eastern Hooded Scaly Foot Pygopus schraderi is quite different from animals I've seen around Bourke. It must be the crumbly grey soil in the area.

A few dragons were on the road. This earless dragon is a very common species that I haven't seen before. The earless dragon Tympanocryptis tetraporophora is unlike other dragons as it has no visable ear opening. They are often seen on roadsides sitting up on their backlegs, white belly to the sun to reduce the amount of heat absorbed.

Another new species for me was the Downs Bearded Dragon Pogona henrylawsoni. Also called pygmy bearded dragons, they are much smaller than central or eastern bearded dragons but much stockier than the western pygmy dragons.