Wildlife on Fuerteventura

[windermeregolfer]

Fantastic photos Tamara, what are you using to take them phone or camera with zoom lens?

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Thanks John, just my phone and I've no idea about what the spec is of the camera aspect of it. I do end up ditching quite a few pics in my quest to get a few decent ones, thank goodness I don't still use rolls of film!

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

White butterflies in the garden this afternoon, looked very like the Cabbage Whites that were the bane of my life in the UK.

   

and Shrek the Shrike moved up to a higher perch in the wires:

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Found a little creature that I didn't recognise today:



Then I realised it was an upside down bee!



Then spotted all these tiny beetles in a plant, never seen these before, perhaps the showers prompted them out:

 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Thanks Sam, it was certainly cute!

On a walk this afternoon I visited one of the local wells/water storage tanks - it was foul, green, presumably a breeding ground for mossies! But, I surprised a pair of ducks (I think they were Canelas) and a heron. Unfortunately by the time I had retrieved my phone they were all beyond the scope of decent pics.

 

 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Well, one here for our naturalist members to comment on!

One of the hundreds of lizards in our garden caught my eye today. I'm pretty sure it's a male as it's colouring is brighter than a lot of the others. It had a protuberance halfway down it's tail on the right hand side. Could it be a reproductive organ?  Looking online it doesn't seem to fit the forked description of a lizard's hemipenis, or the location! If not, any ideas? It was definitely attached to the lizard, not a piece of debris.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Observed an interesting event at lunchtime today. Took some pics but too distant to really show what was happening. A guirre was circling over the area between the village school and Mta Tindaya when a couple of pigeons/doves took a dislike to it being there. They mobbed it for about 5 minutes until it headed over towards Vallebrón. They were really dive bombing the guirre and making a lot of noise as well, I thought they were very brave! 
There are quite a few pigeon 'fanciers' in the village who often let their racers out for a fly past, perhaps it was a couple of them. Sometimes it's like seeing a Starling murmuration, can you have a pigeon murmuration?

[Johnrgby]

If I remember correctly it is a Kit of pigeons, { my old English teacher were she still alive would be proud of me, I always told her i was listening  } The other one that sticks in my mind are  parrots = Pandemonium

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Thanks guys.
No comment on the lizard?   

Today's offering is a Houbara crossing the lane just down from me. Not very clear as I was facing into the sun and it was a reasonable distance from me, didn't want to try to get closer as I had my dog with me.

[Gone Fishing]

Well, one here for our naturalist members to comment on!

One of the hundreds of lizards in our garden caught my eye today. I'm pretty sure it's a male as it's colouring is brighter than a lot of the others. It had a protuberance halfway down it's tail on the right hand side. Could it be a reproductive organ?  Looking online it doesn't seem to fit the forked description of a lizard's hemipenis, or the location! If not, any ideas? It was definitely attached to the lizard, not a piece of debris.

Hi Tamara
Many lizards have the ability to shed the end of their tails if they are in danger e.g. being chased or picked up by a bird e.g Shrek the Shrike.

The tail continues to move as if alive and acts as a decoy, enabling the lizard to scuttle away while the predator is distracted by the wriggling tail.

The tail will regrow and if you look at your photo you can see where there is a slight narrowing of the tail just where the ''protuberance'' emerges.
This is typical of the point where the tail was jettisoned to avoid being caught.

It could be that this lizard has shed its tail and where the new end section has begun to regrow, two new tails have emerged, one continuing to grow to form a complete tail and the other to form a stump which has not developed.

It's not uncommon to find a two-tailed or even a triple-tailed lizard as a result of this regrowth ability