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My Eyes May Be Weak... But you look simply marvelous, marvelous... Darling! I know to wide open for my focal distance but still had to take the shot of this male trying to entice a female. I'll try harder next time :-) Geotagged,Sceloporus occidentalis,Spring,United States,Western fence lizard (blue-belly) Click/tap to enlarge

My Eyes May Be Weak...

But you look simply marvelous, marvelous... Darling! I know to wide open for my focal distance but still had to take the shot of this male trying to entice a female. I'll try harder next time :-)

    comments (3)

  1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
    Ferdy Christant
    Lion
    View Lion class
    Really cool behavioral scene. Does the male have a display ritual to show all that blue, or will it just sit there? Posted 9 years ago
    1. View Stephen Philips's profile
      Stephen Philips
      Lion
      View Lion class
      Ferdy,

      From what I observed the male pumps up and down (pretty typical for lizards) to further show off his blue belly. The link below that I posted earlier is a representation of him pumping his body up and down to show off his stuff. I imagine like most demonstrations of manly prowess it is to make his belly look as big and blue as possible to attract the desires of a potential mate. I had no time to get this image stopped down so unfortunately she is not in focus. Still a decent "interaction" capture.

      Name Appropriate Capture... Since this is commonly referred to as "Fence Lizard" I didn't feel as insignificant as a "nature" photographer since I captured this sitting on my back fence! Geotagged,Sceloporus occidentalis,Spring,United States,Western fence lizard (blue-belly)
       Posted 9 years ago
      1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
        Ferdy Christant
        Lion
        View Lion class
        Thank you. Apparently it does pushups to show dominance :)

         Posted 9 years ago

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The Western fence lizard

The western fence lizard is a common lizard of Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Northern Mexico, and the surrounding area. As the ventral abdomen of an adult is characteristically blue, it is also known as the blue-belly.

Info 17 1
Similar species: Snakes And Lizards
Species identified by Stephen Philips
View Stephen Philips's profile

By Stephen Philips

All rights reserved
Uploaded Jun 10, 2016. Captured Jun 10, 2016 09:58 in E Britton Way, Tucson, AZ 85739, USA.
country flag of United States of America Explore United States of America 39,925 9,640 8
  • Canon EOS 5DS R
  • f/8.0
  • 1/500s
  • ISO200
  • 400mm