Lizard Appreciation Day

I saw so many lizards first thing this morning, I decided to photograph as many as I could and enjoy the variety of colors, shapes, and patterns these lizards exhibit. Some were small, some big; some were fat, some were skinny; some were black or gray and others were brown; some had gorgeous turquoise spots. Some had red spots on the side of their heads. Some looked happy, some sad, some mad. (Or maybe that was just my imagination playing tricks on me.) There were some whiptails and alligator lizards, but most were fence lizards. Alas, I didn't see a single snake :(

It was a hot day: 92 degrees at 11 am.

By the end of my 5 hr. hike, I'd seen more than 70 lizards on Rhus Ridge and Black Mountain trails!!! I counted 27 that skittered away before I could photograph them. I heard, but didn't see, at least a dozen more rustling around in the dry leaves and grass, but I didn't count these in the total. I got quite a few pictures (43 submitted: some good, some bad, some terrible and not good enough to post).

Coast Range Fence Lizards: 35
Western Whiptails: 6
Southern Alligator Lizards: 2

All in all, it was a great lizard day!

See all the lizards at: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/truthseqr/2017/7/8

References:
http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/lizardsid/lizards.id.html

http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/images/elgariaeyecomparison.jpg

More discussion:
http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/lizardsid/elgaria.id.html

Posted on 08 de julho de 2017, 11:35 PM by

truthseqr

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Comentários

Nice! That is a lot of lizards! Taking advantage of the hot hot day, I guess.

Sceloporus species give me fits at ID time, but that variability makes each individual one fun to look at!

Publicado por sea-kangaroo quase 7 anos antes

Thanks for the references, @sea-kangaroo!

Publicado por truthseqr quase 7 anos antes

@jmaughn and @dominic, I had a great lizard day. Thought you might enjoy all these lizard pics.

Publicado por truthseqr quase 7 anos antes

These are great, Anne! The lizards were good to you. Those whiptails in particular can be tricky to photograph.

Publicado por jmaughn quase 7 anos antes

Thanks, Jim. Yes, they were good to me. One of the whiptails skittered away from me but paused on the grassy hillside long enough for me to get a few pics.

Publicado por truthseqr quase 7 anos antes

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Lizard Appreciation Day

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