Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Wednesday Vignette: Tone on tone

I was passing under the ornamental pear tree (Pyrus calleryana) headed to the trash bin when I thought I saw the tree twitch.  I happened to have my camera in my pocket so I zoomed in.



My subject froze in place, trusting in his (or her) invisibility.



The eye can be fooled but the camera cannot.

He shifted his head to keep his eye on me


My close encounter with this Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) is my contribution to the Wednesday Vignette meme sponsored by Anna at Flutter & Hum.  Also known as a blue-belly, the lizard was careful to keep his stomach pressed flat to the tree's trunk so as not to give himself away.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

24 comments:

  1. Oh wow! He's a handsome fella. And you managed to have your camera handy…I'm so impressed!

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    1. I'd been out beforehand snapping shots of some new plants in my garden before I started hauling trash for the morning pick-up. I'm not usually that lucky.

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  2. That's great camouflage and a wonderful moment captured! Our lizards get out of the way faster than I can photograph them...

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    1. That was the most surprising thing, Amy - these lizards usually move so fast I don't have a chance to catch a picture.

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  3. The camouflage almost worked for the creature, cool and well spotted!

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    1. He must have believed he was well and truly hidden because these lizards usually scoot off at any approach. He just froze in place.

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  4. It was a nice lizard!
    Not easy to see the.
    Have a nice weekend
    Mariana

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  5. A beautiful lizard. Well spotted!

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    1. Their blue bellies are pretty flashy too but the only time I've seen that is when the cat manages to catch one.

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  6. "I thought I saw the tree twitch". That is fabulous - you are a world class "noticer" and with this kind of company in your garden I hope you'll always have your camera handy.

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    1. Well, you have to admit it's odd to see a tree trunk move (outside of an animated film, of course).

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  7. Great picture! I love the scales on that lizard

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    1. He - and the legion of his companions in my garden - are handsome creatures.

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  8. Wow - that was in your garden! How wonderful! Great shots too, and I'm with Matt here... Those scales are fantastic! :)

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    1. There are hundreds of them in my garden. You can't walk 5 feet without one skittering by. The off thing was that this one stayed put.

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  9. Keeping your garden Earwig-free. We love lizards!

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    1. I wasn't sure what they ate but, if it's earwigs, they're certainly welcome here. (Not that I could get rid of them if I tried.) Since your post on the holes they dig for their eggs, I've noticed lots of those - if I hadn't seen your post, I'd have probably blamed the skunks for those.

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  10. When I was a kid at Camp Pendleton (Oceanside) I used to go hunting for these lizards. We'd always catch them and then flip them over to see their bellies. The lizards here are much less scaly and I see skinks more than lizards. Very cool pics! :)

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    1. Your kid-self clearly moved more quickly than I do - I'm sure that even this frozen lizard would have taken off if I'd made a move to grab him. Even my cat is rarely successful (but that's a good thing as a half-digested lizard is unpleasant to say the least).

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  11. I love it! Great photos, Kris. I've seen these east of the Cascades, but in my area I usually only see northern alligator lizards, and those only rarely at our current house. I miss seeing all the lizards and big garter snakes at our last house.

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    1. Alligator lizards sound much fiercer than "fence" lizards.

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  12. Replies
    1. He (or she) is busy creating more look-alikes - you can't walk 3 feet without coming across one, especially when the temperatures rise.

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