Monday, February 22, 2010

No frills defence display from lizard

Frilled Lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii) plays dead (wide-eyed) in the middle of a sodden Tyto track today. No movement. Not even discernible breathing. Certainly no display of frills. Past experience has always been that in this defence mode the lizards will not move until touched, no matter how close the approach. Didn't bother putting this smallish animal to the touch test.

Black Bitterns (Ixobrychus flavicollis) don't play dead in the middle of mown tracks. But this male seeking morsels washed from the overflowing main lagoon stuck to position as I approached from about 60 metres off. Sadly, two Magpie Larks flew in and for reasons known only to themselves drove bittern off. And I got only blurry shots of the swooping.

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