Interests

Boiga irregularis (photo: Jeremy Ringma)

Reptiles

I love going out at night looking for snakes and geckos, and by day I always have my eyes peeled for lizards (see description for "herp-ing"). An excellent database for Australian reptiles (and my online go-to guide) is the Australian Reptile Online Database. My preferred field guide for Australian reptiles is "A complete guide to reptiles of Australia" by Wilson and Swan (2010).

   

Litoria peronii (photo: Taryn Crispin)

Amphibians

Whenever the day is warm and there has been recent rain, I'm likely to be out looking for frogs. It's a shame there are no salamanders or caecilians in Australia, but there are certainly a fantastic array of frog species at my doorstep. Best online guide for Australian amphibians is the Frogs Australia Network. There is no reliable frog guide to all Australian frogs, but as a Queenslander I can recommend "Field guide to the frogs of Queensland" by Vanderduys (2012).

Superb fairy wren (photo: Jeremy Ringma)

Birds

I LOVE BIRDS. Nothing cheers me up more than going out and looking for a species I haven't seen before, and the thrill of the chase is addictive (yes, I'm another one of those "twitchers"). My preferred field guide is "The field guide to the birds of Australia" by Pizzey and Knight (Ninth edition: 2012). My go-to site for all the gossip on exciting birds is Eremaea Birds, which lists up-to-date notable sightings by region in Australia.

CRYSIS (EA Games, 2007)

Computer games

I don't have any consoles, so I rely solely on my computer for gaming pleasure. I prefer first-person shooters (FPSs) such as Crysis and Metro 2033, but am also susceptible to role-playing games (RPGs) such as The Secret World and Diablo. I wait impatiently for Valve's Steam Box "Piston" release (hopefully this year...?)