Pictures of reptiles in the “wild”

So I was trying to photograph this crane (that I erroneously called an egret earlier), and then some idiot threw their frisbee and startled him into flight. :person_facepalming:

But then he landed right in front of me!! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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That’s what I call serendipitous. :heart:

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Here’s a lizard from Bermuda. I believe it’s a Jamaican anole. Could be wrong on the ID, but whatever it was, it was cute.


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It was great. When he landed, I said (aloud), “Oh wow, hi!” And he turned and looked at me, and I told him how handsome he was, and then he went back to hunting in the surf.

I love having those moments with wild animals, where you both mutually acknowledge your awareness of one another…and then the animal decides you’re not problematic enough to worry about and just goes back to doing its thing.

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Are you currently in Bermuda? If so, I’m jealous. (And if these are pictures from a previous trip…I’m still jealous :joy:)

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I’m jealous of you, Jennifer, and @caryl! :joy:

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Here he is in hunting mode.


Hopefully nobody minds the bird pictures. I’ve really been enjoying the birds at the beach lately. The cranes (which I now know are great egrets, not cranes)are my favourite, but here’s a few others.

These are snowy egrets. Smaller than the great egrets, not quite as lanky, but also very beautiful. I frequently see them snatching things out of the surf and digging things out of the sand. Usually solitary, though I occasionally see two nearby one another.



These are sandpipers, I believe. (They’re not sandpipers, they’re curlews). I love them and their goofy long, hooked beaks. I often see them singly or in pairs.



…or maybe these are sandpipers? (Yes, these are sandpipers.) I’m pretty sure one of these two long-billed species are a sandpiper, but I’m not sure which. These little guys are smaller than the ones above and are usually seen in small groups rather than pairs. And their beaks flatten out at the end, almost like a little shovel. They’re more skittish than the others, so much harder to get decent pictures.


EDIT: Finally figured it out! The smaller birds that live in groups are sandpipers, and the bigger one with the downward curving beak is a curlew.

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…okay, so I’ve been doing some research, and the “crane” actually IS an egret, but it’s not a snowy egret (which I thought was the only egret we had here). It’s a great egret. So I was kinda right the first time…then I was definitely wrong…and now I’m pretty sure I finally have the right ID. :person_facepalming::joy:

Yeah, I don’t really know birds. But I shall learn!

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Really great pics Jennifer! I always wonder why these birds stand on one leg at times like in the second from the bottom pic the bird on the far left. Their legs are so spindly!

But I too enjoy birds of every sort!

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The sandpipers often rest with one leg tucked up. And it’s interesting, when you get too close and they start to run away, they’ll start out hopping on one leg, then they’ll unfold the second leg and sort of limp on it for a few strides, they they start actually running on both legs. The first time I saw it, I thought that individual bird was injured…but then I noticed they all seem to do it. :person_shrugging:

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Well I can understand that because if I have exerted myself and then I sit down for a short period of time and then try to get up walk around I limp for a bit until I unfold! :joy:

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I’m not currently in Bermuda (sad to say, lol!). That was last January, a final “just us” trip with my younger daughter before she and her hubby welcomed their first baby last April. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip despite some travel glitches, and have a wholehearted recommendation of where to stay if anybody wants that via DM.

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These are all beautiful, but oh my goodness, I really love the first shot here! It’s like you’ve captured the essence of that bird. The sandpipers are favorites of mine, too. Brings back happy memories of Virginia Beach, where we lived when I was little.

Oh yeah, me too, 100%! So true it’s funny/ not funny/ downright hilarious! :joy: :joy: :joy:

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