Written late yesterday afternoon...
Once again, the birds had disposed of all the water in the bird bath, so I filled a jug and went out onto the patio to do the house-keeping. And then I saw this fellow.
The Boyd's rainforest dragon sat for a while on the warm pavers and then decided it wanted a drink of water. When a grey-headed robin flew down to take a bath, the dragon rushed at it. A rainforest dragon running across the ground on its hind legs is a fearsome sight. (If you're robin-sized, that is. It's somewhat less frightening if you're human.) The display had its desired effect. The bird scarpered and the dragon had free access to the water dish.
Then a Lewin's honeyeater thought that it would like to take a dip. The dragon extended its saw-toothed dewlap, rose onto its hind legs and lunged at the bird. (In my mind, it also took a swipe at the interloper, but I might be confusing it with Godzilla. You can see why.)
The dragon spent an hour or so, guarding the water bowl from dusty and thirsty birds, periodically drinking with its snout immersed, before it eventually sauntered back into the rainforest.
I didn't take any photos of the dragon in the bowl, but here are some from the patio. Isn't it an amazing lizard?
5 comments:
Yes, it's a fearsome looking lizard - but what is amazing to me is the number of birds and beasties that you have running around tame in your yard!
It's not bad here, mick!
I haven't seen one of these fellow for a few months, so this one was a nice surprise.
What a gorgeous Lizard! Fantastic photos of him in action also!
THAT is TOO COOL. =) Lizards don't need much, but they do occasionally need to eat and camel-up for the next week or so. =) How fun. THANKS!!!
I wish I'd got a photo of the dragon defending the water dish, but I thought I'd been intrusive enough. It was both fascinating and hilarious.
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