From Nightjar,
rq’s triune of lizards reminded me of this very special lizard I was lucky enough to see during my summer holidays. A Mediterranean Chameleon! They are native here in Portugal but not very common and only occur along the south coast. This was only the third time I saw one and the first time I had a camera with me. I was obviously very excited, but tried to be quick in order not to disturb it too much and also to avoid calling the attention of more tourists (one never knows… chameleons move slowly and unfortunately there are many humans who can’t be trusted around defenseless animals).
The photos are wonderful, Nightjar and I’m impressed with how close you got to this wild, little fellow. I notice in the second photo that his left eye is watching you even though his right eye is facing straight ahead. That is some interesting anatomy and so are those feet. I always thought of chameleons as being arboreal with those feet being designed to cling to small branches, but I see that they do equally well on the ground. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing, Nightjar.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
They are so tiny and so cute!
I saw one many years ago in Cádiz at a campsite. Sadly no camera ready, as it was before the advent of smartphones*.
I did not even have a mobile back then. It was that damn September 2001.
Those are great photos and what a lovely lizard. I didn’t know you had chameleons in that part of the world! So cool!
Yeah, people always think of color-changing, which is cool, but their eyes are pretty awesome too. I bet their visual experience is really crazy. Herbie Hancock’s Chameleon is somehow not psychedelic or funky enough.
Yep, the eyes are pretty cool, constantly moving in a totally non-coordinated but surely useful way. They are arboreal, this one was just crossing a non-vegetated area and was clearly heading towards the more densely vegetated part of the dunes which had many shrubs. It was very close to the beach but also very close to a natural reserve. I didn’t have the DSLR camera with me, but I had the superzoom, and sometimes that’s even better.
consciousness razor, thanks for the song! I agree. :)
Chameleons are some of the most wonderful creatures out there, I love their little fingers and wandering eye -- these photos are beautiful, too! You’ve really caught the determined expression in the last, such serious little lizards! :D
The scales of the chameleon are shown in a gorgeous way. Fascinating beasts
Beautiful little chap.
I love chamelions! They are so amazing.