Lizards, Lizard Dogs & Birds

Today was a lovely, sunny day and the lizards knew it too. We have many Western Fence Lizards on our property. I was walking out to the garage early this afternoon and heard the telltale sound of lizards scurrying to hide. I moved a pallet that was leaning against the side of the garage and found a large lizard and a small one. The large one was too fast for me to grab, but the smaller one was colder and slower. I picked it up and set it up on the pallet. When I realized it was pretty comfy in the sun and didn't seem like it wanted to move, I went inside and got my camera. I managed to snap a couple of photos before the lizard warmed enough to move on.




While I was reviewing the lizard photos I was reminded of our dog Patch, who loved to watch lizards. He learned this from our previous dog, Jet, who (being the true border collie that he was) always needed a job. Jet had many jobs, but "Lizard Dog" was his most unique occupation. He would watch my iguana when he was indoors and the fence lizards when he was outdoors. We never thought Patch really "got" what Jet was doing, he'd see Jet staring at the wood pile (aka lizard habitat) and would run over there but quickly lost interest. It wasn't until after Jet had passed away that Patch "got" lizards and assumed the role of Lizard Dog.




To our knowledge, neither Jet nor Patch ever caught a lizard, but they certainly were fascinated by them and we sure enjoyed seeing their enthusiasm. Magpie, our current dog, couldn't care less about lizards - she lives for tennis balls.

Later this afternoon, John and I took a drive to a local park to take photos of the ducks and geese that frequent the pond. Mallards, Canada Geese, domestic geese, a White-Fronted Goose, a Common Goldeneye and an American Widgeon were there for our viewing pleasure.
These are two of my favorite photos from today: