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Sand Lizard
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
A male Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis) beginning to develop his spring mating colours. This shot has been lightly cropped and sharpened.
These beautiful reptiles live up to their name, living on sandy heaths and sand dunes. In the UK the Dorset/Hampshire area of Southern England is a stronghold for them, as it contains some of the largest areas of lowland heath remaining in Europe. Even so, huge swathes of this fragile habitat has been lost to building projects. The demise of heathland grazing has led to the encroachment of trees and shrubs, including species not native to the region such as pine and the dreaded Rhododendron ponticum. Fires are also a major threat.
Because of this vulnerability conservation groups have banded together to form a UK Sand Lizard Species Action Plan. One of them is the Herpetological Conservation Trust (http://www.herpconstrust.org.uk). They manage the site where this photo was taken. For a list of groups around the UK visit http://www.arg-uk.org.uk
April and early May is the best time of the year to capture shots of this species in the UK. The males are at their brightest, and there is less cover for them to hide in. You normally have to be VERY stealthy to get close enough to take good pictures. Sand Lizards have excellent eyesight and good hearing. Avoid sudden movement and tread gently. If you are lucky enough to find one on a cooler day it might be sluggish enough to get really close. However, please remember it is an offence under European law to handle or disturb these creatures in any way.
I am not planning to post here regularly again in the near future. This is just a quick 'hello' to everyone - I do miss posting here, but to be honest I really don't have the time for it at present (moving home and we have many years of accumulated junk to sort out). Hope you are all keeping well and enjoying your photography, particularly those in the UK where spring is bringing out all kinds of wonderful species like this one! It's certainly giving me more chance to refine my skills using my Canon 5DMkII - if you go to the following page you can see video of this lizard on the clip entitled 'Life on the Heath' : http://gallery.me.com/vincentblood
The clip also contains some footage of a Green Tiger Beetle.
Kind Regards
Vinny www.vincentblood.com |
roges, Panoptic83, brunorsantana, meyerd has marked this note useful
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- Marx44
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 174 W: 95 N: 599]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(2124) - [2009-04-03 11:41]
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Hi
Very good image in terms of compo, DOF, POV,...
Well done
TFS
Marx
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- roges
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 595 W: 0 N: 507]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(3040) - [2009-04-03 11:58]
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Hi Vinny !
Nice catch.
Some colors very beautiful.Congratulations.
Have a nice weekend,
Adrian
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- zetu
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 645 W: 15 N: 1577]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(6149) - [2009-04-03 12:26]
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Hello Vinny
Beautiful portrait with good details and natural colors.
Regards
Razvan
Hello Vinny,
Great shot of the lizard, very good colours and perfect details.
Cheers,
Prasad
Olá, Vinny!
Great focus, POV and texture. Light and colors are also good. Very well done, mate. Congratulations and TFS.
Regards,
Bruno
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- meyerd
(5336)
- [2009-04-05 23:22]
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Hi Vinny,
I think I remember quite some pictures of yours, too bad you withdrew them. But from what I understand you will continue mounting shots on TN. Good! This lizard portrait makes us all see more of your treasures. You can clearly tell the genus from the craggy collar. Beautiful!
Best regards
Dietrich
nice close up, TFS Ori
![Silver Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 29 W: 0 N: 70]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/s-n-g.gif)
(238)