Monday 14 April 2008

Lizard spot 14 April

So I'm sat at home. We've sorted out the first half of our "Official Governmenty stuff," and got online banking sorted out. Phew.
Now I'm just chilling out, its a warm Spring day. About 18C. I've got the front door open letting in a cool breeze. I wish I could say there were romantic Spanish noises coming from the outside, like flamenco dancers and such, unfortunately there is just the noise of a half or so dozen construction sites, high pitched scooters racing up and down the main road towards the beach and a Spanish guy outside talking loudly to someone in the apartment above. I have just gone to the door and gave him the "stare." The missus is in the bedroom trying to sleep as she hasn't had much sleep.
But like Primal Scream have just sang over the iPod, "This is a beautiful day. It is a new day."
Things are really started to look up in Spain.

I really enjoy nature. Not in the way that I know all the animals and plants names and their favourite hobbies, but just the fact that there is wildlife all around us.
One of my favourite things about Spain is the difference in nature. Like I say, I'm not a massive follower of plants and animals, but I like the difference over here. Especially lizards. I think reptiles are pretty cool. This might have something to do with me being allergic to animal hair and reptiles not having much of this.

My favourite hobby when visiting Spain is lizard spotting. Last summer I was gutted I didn't see a lizard while on holiday until the last day. That made up for me not seeing any.

So I will start Lizard Spot. This is my way of letting you in on one of my favourite fun activities.
I'll record my attempts at spotting lizards. Not hunting them down ala Steve Irwin style, but just seeing if any race across rocks or even in restaurants (which happened last on holiday).
I'll almost always have my phone on me so I will always try to get a photo of the lizard, but it depends if the camera loads up fast enough and I can get a clear shot.

So I have been in Spain now for 6 days. Just under a week. My lizard count is an astonishing 4. I'm made up with that. It's still not hot here so I wasn't expecting to see any, but four already is pretty aces.
And luckily I have been able to photograph them all. See if you can spot them.

P4111237
Pretty easy. This was found just outside our house. Two days after arriving. We were heading down to the beach and I heard a rustling in the shrub by a wall and spotted a lizard. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with the camera. But a few seconds later I spotted this guy.

Two lizards again
We spotted my next two at a bust stop heading back home. This was today in fact. We had just been to sort out some bank stuff and while waiting for the bus I seen a lizard rush across the dirt. He stopped and then carried on and stopped again. The next thing I spotted was a second lizard, right in front of him swinging his tail about and hitting the first lizard in the face. Then a little brawl kicked off. But I think I scared them out of their fight when I went to take this photo. Can you spot them?
I did spot a third lizard a few minutes later. But he was running from the direction of the other two, so I'll just say that he was one of these two.

Also I'm not sure what kind of lizards these are? They are very small, quite common around South Spain. I think they are Iberian Wall lizards, but if anyone can confirm this it would be great.

So there is your first episode of lizard hunting. If I spot any other animal then I might start a different section (I'm talking about you snakes). But we have a friend that lives in the campo, which is like a rural area. He said that he had to move a massive chameleon out of the dirt track leading up to his house. If I spot one of them I'll be over the moon.

Hooray for wild life in Spain.

9 comments:

S said...

Don't all people speaking in a foreign language sound louder though. I think it is more irritating because it is just a noise, rather than understandable. Either that or foreign people are just loud.

B said...

I absolutely love the wildlife found in other countries. Truly.

Squirrels in Germany, for example, are brown and have spiky hairs on their ears.

Unknown said...

When you gave them "the stare"

was that the tube commuter "I'm not going to say anything, I'm just going to look at you and you WILL shut up" stare?

Love that one.

Anonymous said...

hey ho the big rob over in spain,
adie here just thought a quicjk note to say hello and also you have forgotten 1 small minor detail
-> over there you need to change your location in about me!

take care chat soon

commis chef said...

you've gone mad! There's no lizards in the second picture... I'm sure of it. I've examined every pixel...

For the love of god, tell me where they are!

Anonymous said...

Right hand side, about 1/3rd of the way up, it's just the head :D

Robbie said...

@James Yeah youre right. They do seem louder. It's still a blur too me when they talk. I hope I work it out soon.

@Deutlich Spikey eay hair. How grandfather like. Although I have been tipped off about a bird thats dressed like a zebra and has spoikey hair. I hope to spot that.

@Mouthness Yeah thats the one. Something I brought over from London.

@Adie Alright fella. Good to see you here. Thanks for the heads up, thats been changed now over there----->

@Chef If you clikc the photo it wil take you to flickr. Click the "Other sizes" button above the photo and look at the original size. That might help. If you still can't find them I'll tip you off.

@Dom I wish did spot a lizard that big. Although I wouldn't stick around long to photograph it.

commis chef said...

I found them! Woooooo hoooooo! Thanks!

Robbie said...

@Chef Good to see you found them. The next one is much easier (if you haven't already sneeked a peak on flickr)