Camp Time

My wife and I took granddaughter to camp for a couple days to enjoy the outdoors while I did some spring maintenance (pressure washing the house, repairing the barbed wire fence).  We arrived to a picturesque day and were greeted by small flocks of chipping sparrows that were exploring the edges of the sandy road leading to our place.  My first task of the day was to check the bluebird box I erected back in 2007, which I discovered a nicely constructed nest containing five sky-blue eggs nestled neatly in the center of the nest’s perfect bowl.

Avian nest construction has always amazed me.  How each strand of hay, that was harvested from our very own hay field, is intertwined, eventually materializing into this flawless work of art that caresses the delicate eggs and nestlings to follow.  Not long later I spotted the adults flying back and forth between two water oaks we have on the property as they rummaged the ground below for insects.  Soon they will have their hands full with five hungry mouths to feed, which means they’re in for long days of foraging.

We wandered over to the barn, as we always do, to see if anything interesting was stirring, and we were not disappointed.  

On the rough-hewn cypress gate on the south side of the barn was a large eastern fence lizard (Sceloporous undulates) measuring approximately five inches from stem to stern.  Other names include- Prairie Lizard, Texas Swift, and Gray Lizard.  This “sit-and-wait” predator feeds on a variety of insects including moths, ants, beetles, and grasshoppers. Its colors are a mixture of grays, browns, oranges, and whites.  But the most brilliant of its colors are the electric blue that is found on the chin and undersides of the males of this species of lizard.

They're pretty fast, wary and built for this terrain, but luckily I was able to grab him on the first try.  We flipped it over to find blue markings indicating a male.

I tried to get granddaughter to hold it, but due to an intimidating experience with a lizard in the past (it latched on to her lip when she tried to give it a kiss) she declined.  

But I was able to get her to run her tiny finger across its back so she can feel the roughness of its spiny “keeled” scales, and that was good enough for me.

Camp Workday

I spent the last day and a half up at our camp, mostly working, but even during those times of all work and no play I still keep my eyes and ears open. The outside of the camp house needed cleaning so I was about to start on that when I saw a small eastern fence lizard creeping out from under the house.

I've written about these before and as you may recall they are incredibly fast and hard to catch. I remembered having a small aquarium net inside, so I retrieved it and it worked perfectly. It was a male, identified by the beautiful blue markings on its throat and belly.



After photographing it I went to release it on a small wood pile out front and noticed a larger one basking in the sun, so I grabbed the net and was lucky again. This one was three times as big as the first and a bit more aggressive as it tried to bite me several times.

Notice the tail of the larger lizard. You can see where it had broken off (defensive measure or "tail autotomy") and grown back. Each time I grab any lizard I'm very careful not to involve the tail in the capture so as not to cause its loss. Losing the tail can spare its life from predators, but it is costly. Protein and fat which is needed for energy now has to be diverted into growing a new one.

Carpenter bees were very active as they were buzzing around me as I worked, I'm sure looking for a nice spot for to tunnel. A male (expressed by the white patch on its face- females lack this) landed on the electrical panel allowing me to get some nice shots.

I checked my bluebird box that has been up since 2007 and unfortunately they have not yet begun building a nest. Last season was the first time since I put this box up that they did not nest in it. Still haven't figured out why.....wasps?? I checked my neighbor's box on the way home and found that he had a nest and one egg. Good for him. Hopefully there's still a chance for my nestbox this year.

There were lots of butterflies flitting by throughout the day- mostly swallowtails-zebra, tiger, black, spicebush, and an occasional monarch. Birds seen and/or heard- tufted titmouse, Carolina chickadee, northern cardinal, red-bellied woodpecker, mourning dove, chipping sparrows, blackburnian warbler.

In full bloom, among other things, was the yellow jessamine vine. It seemed that everywhere I looked this vine was present. This woody, trailing vine is poisonous to humans (contains alkaloids). In fact if honeybees from nearby hives use this plant solely for nectar gathering, the honey produced could be toxic.

Though poisonous to humans it is though harmlessly browsed by deer and its nectar also fed upon by ruby-throated hummingbirds, spicebush swallowtail butterflies, and other insects as seen inside the flower.

Though work was the agenda for the day there's always time to observe what's around you.

Eastern Fence Lizard

While mowing grass along the edges of the barn my eyes caught movement along one of the aged planks of cypress that make up its walls. Blending in quite well against the woodwork was an eastern fence lizard. Ten minutes of haphazard grabbing finally paid off. In other words he made me work for it. If anyone driving by had seen this they would've thought I had lost my mind as I chased this speedy reptile up and down that wall. He wriggled and squirmed trying to release himself from my grip, but quickly became calm once I began scratching the top of his head.Belonging to a group of lizards from the genus Sceloporus, which means “spiny lizard”, they're not quite as fast as the racerunners around here, but they can be tricky to catch. Finding them on trees makes for a more difficult capture, because as you approach them they dart to the other side of the tree and continue this round and round escape tactic until finally scurrying higher and out of reach. I try to make sure when I do grab one (as I do with all lizards, geckos, etc.) I get it by its upper body and not by its tail, which would break off rather easily. Known as autotomy, lizards will relinquish part of their tails in order to escape and distract a predator. Not to worry it will grow back to be used again.
Their skin has a very rough texture due to its scales being keeled and pointed. Blue markings are found under the chins and on the sides of the belly on males during breeding season (April-August). They flash these patches to attract females by bobbing up and down as if performing pushups. Normally these patches are bright in color, but this particular male’s chin patches are lighter than usual. Also no patches were found on its underside. Not sure why. Could it be that this one is a juvenile? Do the patches fade following breeding season? If anyone knows the answer to this please share. These lizards are diurnal and when not hunting for prey (beetles, ants, weevils, spiders, and centipedes) they spend much of their time basking in the sunlight, waiting for fools like me to try and catch 'em. To check out more photos of this dude go to my Flickr page.