Collared Lizard, Flume Canyon, McInnis Canyon National Conservation Areal, Colorado

 This little guy is a collared lizard.  Bob encountered it in Flume Canyon in the McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area, Colorado while hiking out from his Arch Rally hike to see Picture Window Arch and The Spectacles double arch.

The male of the collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) is brightly colored often with greens and yellows.  The coloration of the female is more subdued, but they both have the dark band around their necks that gives the species its name. They are a common species in rocky and arid regions

This image is heavily cropped from the original photo due to Bob not having a long telephoto lens with him during this hike.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Red-eared slider, turtle basking on a log in the American River

 

In the Sacramento area, we love visiting the American River that flows right through the city and joins the Sacramento River just north of the historic Old Sacramento. It's amazing how much wildlife we see inside the city limits. Here we saw turtles that are not native to California, the red-eared slider. A group of the turtles were basking on a log as we were canoeing nearby. The turtles noticed us and were acting a little more alert as we got the cameras out.

Canon PowerShot 530HS, ISO 400, 215mm focal length, 1/250 sec, f8

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Side blotched lizard, along the trail on Santa Cruz Island

We were hiking from the Scorpion Canyon campground to Cavern Point and saw several of the side blotched lizards along the trail. This one was surprisingly cooperative. It allowed me to crouch down for a better look without running away. Males of the side blotched lizards can have orange, yellow, or blue throats, while the females can have orange or yellow. The orange-throated males are very territorial while the blue-throated ones don't maintain a territory and will sneak into the territories of others.

The image was taken with ISO 100, 1/180 sec, f13, and 105 mm focal length with  a Canon 70D.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Chuckwalla and rocky textures in Death Valley

This chuckwalla lizard was hanging out near the Dante's View scenic area in Death Valley National Park. It's interesting how the texture of the lizard's skin so closely blends with the textures in the rocks. Chuckwalla's are very comfortable moving around rocks and wedging themselves into the crevices between rocks. One method that chuckwallas use to keep away from predators is to flee into a crevice, then inflate their bodies to create enough pressure that they cannot be dislodged. This one, though, was out in the open for quite a while when people were walking past and looking at the view of Death Valley and the Badwater Basin and also noticing this large lizard sunning itself.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

San Joaquin River Parkway wildlife video

As part of our video on the San Joaquin River Parkway, we edited together a series of videos and stills of the wildlife that can be found along the San Joaquin River and put it to music. We decided to take that part out of the Parkway video and present it on YouTube by itself with some minor edits to improve it. Enjoy the wildlife! 

Here's the link: https://youtu.be/mxwp32Lop8s

Remember, it's not just a picture (video), it's a story!

Sagebrush Lizard, Death Valley; America's Next Top Lizard's Closeup

This is the same lizard as the previous post.  Bob had his camera set to do closeup shots of the wildflowers in bloom, so he tried to get a closeup of this lizard, since he seemed to be very cooperative about letting us take photos of him.  Bob was able to get within an inch of his face to get this shot.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.