WonderingChamaleon
Herper and birder, here sharing my nature and wildlife photos. All photos mine and all animals wild, except mentioned otherwise. AI not admitted here!
Based in Western Switzerland.
🚫 No politics, please. Blocking non disclosed AI.
- 🦎 The amazing Moroccan spiny-tailed lizard, Uromastyx nigriventris. Colours are very variable, this was one of the cuttest I came across. They eat mainly vegetables, but also some invertebrates when they have the opportunity. I include a photo of the habitat, I wonder how can they thrive ?
- 🐸 Brongersma's toad Barbarophryne brongersmai Morocco You have some beautiful eyes, you know? I love the green spots that look like lichens or algae.
- Reposted by WonderingChamaleon[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by WonderingChamaleon[Not loaded yet]
- 🪶 Black-crowned chagra Chagra senegalus
- When I saw it, I had no idea what it was, so I took some photos and thought I would look it up later. In the evening, I forgot about it. When I first saw the pictures at home, I was too focused on the herps, so I skipped it again. So, finally, more than 6 months later, I realised I had a lifer 😂
- 🪶Trumpeter finch Bucanetes githagineus South of Assa, Morocco These birds are called like this because their call is exactly the sound of a party trumpet (see photo). They inhabit desert and semi desert, but need water in their flying range. It was a new species for me, I had never seen one before.
- In a 200m lake full of tree frog tadpoles (cf last post), there are often others looking for the easy meal... in this case, Viperine snakes, Natrix maura. I saw more than 12 coming to the surface to breathe. Viperine 🐍 are called like this because their pattern and behaviour often mimicks vipers
- 🐸 Mediterranean tree frog Hyla meridionalis Tiny baby, just out of water! About 1 cm long, maybe less Photographed in Southern France in August 2024.
- 🪶 Spotless starling Sturnus unicolor
- 🪶 Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia
- 🦊 Souvenir from Assa, Morocco. Dromadaires in a pick-up truck. In Morocco, they call them "our 4x4" (and they mean the dromedaires 😂)
- 🦎 Tiny little salamander, just about 6 cm long
- 🦎 It took some searching 👀 but I found them. Fire salamander S. salamandra terrestris According to the legend, fire salamanders would be able to resist and extinguish fire. It would be cool if it were true, but it's just a myth 😂. Photographed in Western Switzerland.
- 🐍🐍 The (not so) Common Adder... at least in western Europe, adder populations have been declining for the last 30 years. I photographed it the month of May some years ago in eastern France. I think it was a pregnant female. Unlike most snakes, vipers do not lay eggs, they bear live young.
- 🪶 The beautiful greenfinch Carduelis chloris
- 🪶 A black woodpecker doing his thing. This is the biggest woodpecker in Europe, reaching 46 cm length and 73 cm wingspan, nearly the size of a carrion crow. The sound of its drumming is described as a "machine gun salvo" in my field guide 😂 and it is audible up to 4 Km. Dryocopus martius
- This is the kind of holes they make in the trees
- 🪶
- I love a great data visualisation - the sweet spot between art and science - & this is packed with them. Respect is due to @phoebeweston.bsky.social & the other authors www.theguardian.com/environment/... #birdmigration #datavisualisation #birds #ornithology
- 🪶 I just love Squacco herons, they look all brown on the ground and then nearly all white when they take flight. Ardeola ralloides
- 🪶 Little egret, Bubulcus ibus Flying before sunset in the Camargue, France
- 🐍 Asp viper, Vipera aspis Always a pleasure to see them! Photo from my archive, I don't think they're still active around here.
- 🪶 Grey heron closeups Ardea cinerea
- 🐍 Asp viper, Vipera aspis
- #AddOcean 🐙🪶 A couple of Audouin's gulls in the mediterranean sea coast. Larus audouinii
- #addMam 🦊 Red deer Cervus elaphus
- 🦎 a hungry baby western green lizard with a bug. Lacerta bilineata I don't know what bug is
- And licking its lips after the meal 😋
- 🪶 I love terns. Here is a common tern bringing a fish to the chicks back at the nest. Sterna hirundo
- A male Teal, the smallest European duck, about 2/3 the size of a Mallard. Always a beauty to my eyes!! Anas crecca
- 🪶
- Reposted by WonderingChamaleonEarlier this year, Dr. Jane Goodall sat down for an interview for Brad Falchuk’s new Netflix series, Famous Last Words. The premise of the series is to interview people on the condition that the interview not air until the subject has passed away.
- 🐍 Meet the Slow worm, Anguis fragilis. Actually not a worm... and faster than a worm! It's a limbless lizard that feeds on slugs and other invertebrates. You can tell them from snakes because they can close their eyelids and have visible ear openings. They don't need so much heat as most lizards.
- 🐍 Asp viper, Vipera aspis
- 🪶 Bittern, Botaurus stellaris With its perfect camouflage in reed beds. I've seen two explanations for the name stelaris, one that it has specked plumage, other that it looks at the stars (like in photo) I like very much the male call, which goes like BOOM, and is called Booming. Photo croped :(
- 🪶 White-tailed eagles Haliaeetus albicilla It is the biggest eagle in Europe, its wingspan can reach 2,4m. As in all big raptors, you can see clearly the 'fingers' at the wingtips. When they arrived, all the ducks took flight. Must have been a coïncidence 😂
- 🐸 After suggestion of @theonetruecat, I present you the magnificent Green Toad, Bufotes viridis. Photographed in the Peloponese, Greece. #toadalytuesday #Bufotesviridis
- 🪶 The avocet, with it's black and white plumage and upturned bill
- The Midwife toad, Alytes obstetricans - a small toad that owes it's name to the fact that males take care of the eggs until they hatch. They transport them on their backs keeping them humid and defending them from predators.
- 🐸
- Reposted by WonderingChamaleon[Not loaded yet]
- 🪶 A male blackbird singing Turdus merula
- Reposted by WonderingChamaleon[Not loaded yet]
- 🪶 Little owl, Athene noctua Perched on a post and looking at the photographer with suspicion 😅 ("what's this guy doing on my hunting grounds??) Amazing little fellas!! I love the large round head and the yellow eyes!
- 🐍 Eastern montpellier snake Malpolon insignitus A beautiful creature !!
- Reposted by WonderingChamaleon[Not loaded yet]
- Bullfinch 🪶 Pyrrhula pyrrhula A very nice bird to see. They are not rare, but are quite afraid of humans and usually difficult to approach.
