Posts in Category: lizard
Green Basilisk
Green Basilisk: Sarapique River, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica — You do see all kinds of things from the safari boat on the Sarapique and Puerto Viejo rivers. We came along side this group of Green Basilisks. We saw the adult male first of course…or rather our boatman, who is on the river every day, and knows were to look (as well as having a natural talent for spotting birds and wildlife, which he has demonstrated on every trip with him over the years) saw it. Only as we drew near in the boat did we spot the two females below the male in the tangle of branches (one might be an immature male??). The Green Basilisk is called the Jesus Christ Lizard by the locals, because of its ability to “walk on water”. It does indeed run across the water, moving fast enough and light enough not to break the surface tension. I have seen lots of Basilisks…in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama…but I have yet to see one on the water. Sony Rx10iv at 534mm. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 (females) and 250 (male), f4 @ 1/500th.
Santa Fe Lizards
New Mexico Whiptail 
New Mexico Whiptail 
Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail 
Desert Grassland Whiptail 
Little Striped Whiptail 
Plateau Fence Lizard
In the six days we spent in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico, we encountered several different lizard species. The trouble is that all but one were whiptails, and I do not know enough about whiptails in general, and New Mexico whiptails in particular, to reliably distinguish them where the species overlap as they do in Santa Fe. Also there are several possible Fence Lizards in New Mexico. I have captioned the images with my best attempt at an ID based on the resources I could find on the web and in apps. Anyone who really knows their Southwestern Lizards can feel free to correct me. 🙂 To complicate matters, the New Mexico Whiptail is a fertile, female only, hybrid between the Little Striped Whiptail and the Desert Grassland Whiptail, both of which also occur in Santa Fe. So. All photos with the Sony Rx10iv at or near 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Eastern Collared-lizard
Eastern Collared Lizard, Ramsey Canyon, Arizona
Birding in Ramsey Canyon was kind of slow yesterday, for whatever reason, but this beautiful Eastern Collared Lizard posing nicely just about made up for it.
Sony RX10iii at 525mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Lizard Display
Western Fence Lizard, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior AZ
I am in Bay City Michigan this morning, for the Midwest Birding Symposium. Yesterday was a travel day, so I only got one photo…which I will post as my For the love of landscape… shot for today. I still have hundreds of images that I would like to share from my cross country trip with my daughter Sarah. This is Boyce Thompson Arboretum, in Superior AZ…one of my favorite places to visit, though I have not been there in more than 20 years. We always used to stop on the way back from Tucson to Gallup on our spring break trips when I lived in New Mexico. Sarah and I were having lunch on the patio of the visitor center when these two Fence Lizards decided to dispute the territory on the top of a log round at the edge of the patio. I shot these from our table, between bits of sandwich. 🙂
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 220 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Chuckwalla! NOT. Mexican Spiny-tailed Iguana.
Chuckwalla Lizard, Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson AZ
I thought this was a Chuckwalla, another local lizard that makes itself at home on the grounds of the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. There is an enclosure, just before you enter the museum gates, where Chuckwallas and other Sonoran lizards are supposed to be on display, but, honestly, they are hard to miss on any visit to the museum if you just keep your eyes open wherever you find large rocks (real rocks or the fake rocks the museum use to build displays…the Chuckwallas do not seem to care). This large male was displaying on a rock near the Mountain Canyon displays, which is where I have encountered the Chuckwalla most often at the ASDM. The panel shows the same specimen: full body (though the tail is curled around behind and below) and close up.
Note: This is actually a cross between a Mexican Spiny-tailed Iguana and a San Esteban Island Spiny-tailed Iguana…unique to the grounds of the Desert Museum…introduce there in the 70s and still breeding.
Sony HX90V at 285mm and 720mm equivalent fields of view. 1/250th @ ISO 320 and 400, @ f6.3 and f6.4. Processed in Lightroom. Assembled in Phototastic Collage.
Eastern Collared Lizard
Eastern Collared Lizard, Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson AZ
Who says lizards can’t be beautiful? Did someone say that? I hope not! The Eastern Collard Lizard has all kinds of beauty going on. Not to mention attitude. This is one bea-ute-a-ful lizard…and don’t he know it! 🙂 This specimen was at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum near Tucson Arizona yesterday on a hot day…but he was still sunning. Getting his beauty rays.
Sony HX90V at around 1000mm equivalent field of view (using a little Clear Image Zoom beyond the optical). 1/320th @ ISO 80 @ f6.4. Processed in Lightroom.
Green Basilisk Lizard
Green Basilisk Lizard, Isla Popo, Panama
One of the places the folks at Tranquilo Bay take their guests, at least those who are interested, is to the home of one of the indigenous people of the islands, where, for some reason, many different color morphs of Poison Dart frog coexist. When we visited we were greeted at the dock by the 7 year old son of the owner, who acted as our unofficial frog guide while we were there. Our second greeter, however, was this large Green Basilisk Lizard on a log at the base of a plant in the family garden. Amazing creature. Pure prehistoric!
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent. 1/125th @ ISO 450 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Sand Lizard. Germany.
I spent much more time in the countryside in Germany on this last trip than I have ever before. While I did not see a lot of wildlife, except for birds, I did see some. This the Sand Lizard, perhaps the most common native lizard in Germany. I love the patterns and the colors here!
Canon SX50HS at 1800mm equivalent field of view (full zoom plus 1.5x digital tel-converter). Program with iContrast and -1/3EV exposure compensation. f6.5 @ 1/500th @ ISO 800. Processed on the go in PicSay Pro on the Nexus 7 FHD.
Fence Lizards of Cabrillo
There are always lots of lizards at Cabrillo National Monument out at the end of Point Lomas above San Diego Harbor. They like the warmth of the sidewalks and walls in the sun. This first specimen was seeking the shade, not for coolness sake, but for camouflage.
Then we have the calisthenic lizards doing push-ups on the edge of a wall. I think it was some kind of dominance play for another males down below.
And finally a close up.
Canon SX50HS. Program with iContrast and auto Shadow Correction. –1/3EV exposure compensation. 1800mm (1) and 1200mm equivalent fields of view. f6.5 @ 1/1000 @ ISO 125-320. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.
January Brown Anole
The Brown Anole is an introduced species in Florida, unlike the native Green Anole. Unfortunately is very invasive. There has been a colony of Brown Anoles living in the rocks along the pond by the restrooms on Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for as long as I have been going there (10 years). They are were much more active during my few April visits, but on warm days in January you can still see them sunning themselves on the rocks. I like the curl of this one’s tail.
Canon SX50HS in Program with iContrast and Auto Shadow Fill. –1/3EV exposure compensation. 1200mm equivalent field of view. f6.5 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 80. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.