I was on my way back to the car and the last day of the vendor hours at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, leaving the butterfly gardens at the National Butterfly Center in Mission Texas, when I heard a scuttling in the gravel that could only be a lizard. And there it was, a Texas Spotted Whiptail (as I afterwards confirmed). My second lizard of the trip. (The first was a Texas Blue Spiny Lizard seen from the tour boat on the Rio Grande River. And that, folks, is a lizard!). I like lizards, and the whiptails are so perky and, well, cute, there is a lot to like 🙂

Canon SX50HS. Program with auto iContrast and Shadow Fill.  Just over 1000mm equivalent field of view (I had to back off on the zoom to get the full tail in). f6.5 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 200. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness. 

And, since he was kind enough to scuttle around for a second view…from the other side. I am assuming the “spotted” comes from the legs!