On Leeches and Dragons

Looking at this post's title you might ask "What is Al on about?" 

Well let me ramble to the answer. As those of you who read my blog regularly will know, I was recently at my mum's place. Unusually for me I took almost no photos for the entire time I was there.

Mum's is on the Great Dividing Range in northern NSW. For those of you who don't know the Great Dividing Range is a mountain chain that runs thousands of miles all down the east coast of Oz. The range runs from Tropical Far North Queensland all the way down to temperate Victoria.

Unlike most of Oz, the range which lies just inland from the coastal plain is wet for most of its length. As an example most of the waterfall piccies I post are of drops in the Victorian part of the range.

Where Mum is in NSW is rainforest country. And on one of the days I was there I went for a walk in the forest. I had my camera but I barely used it although I did capture some wildlife with it.

The first was this fellow I caught sneaking up my boot.

I pulled him off to give you a better look.  

A leech; the reality is when you walk in this forest the question is not whether you will pick up one of these terrestrial leeches, but how many.

In truth they don't bother me. I like to catch them before they bite, because when they drop off the anticoagulant they inject means you end up with a nuisance bleed. And I get a minor reaction to them so I end up with a red lump which itches for days after.

But as I said I am not bothered by them. They were a part of my life growing up. A fact of life.

I was much more happy to catch sight of the creature that provided my WIIW.

Here s/he is

A lizard; this guy is a Southern Angle Headed Dragon (Hypsilurus spinipes) one of literally thousands of Oz reptile species.

They adopt one of two tactics when threatened; running off on their hind legs, or freezing and hoping their camouflage saves them.

 

This guy chose to freeze rather than fly which allowed me to take my time shooting his/her portrait from multiple angles.  

Which brings me to points: I said my WIIW was easy and as I thought most people guessed an eye.
SO here are the points I am awarding.
Kristen M - 100% for "eye" sorry but no bonus in either of your supplementary guesses.
Anne - 100% for "eye", and 100% for amphibian/reptile. 200%!
This guy is a reptile, the only native amphibians Oz has are frogs
Linda G - 100% for "eye" no bonus for either bird or crocodile :-(
Christine - - 100% for "eye", while bird didn't cut it reptilian does + 100%!
Marcy got - 100% for "eye" + 100% for lizard, a total of 200%
Susan I guess you deserve 100% for your late entry.
Which brings me to Old Kitty, 100 bonus points for your brilliant guess of "eclipse"