Category: spot the nightjar (and other beasts)

Spot the anole!

June 11, 2018 • 9:01 am

Reader Barn Owl sent two phots of an Anolis lizard. These aren’t too hard, but can you spot them? Barn Owl’s notes:

Attached are two “Spot the X, Suburban Backyard Edition” photos for your consideration.  Both photos include the same American anole (Anolis carolinensis), but are taken from different angles (and the animal moved in-between).

Answer at noon Chicago time. Click on photos to enlarge.

 

Here’s the snake!

March 22, 2018 • 12:00 pm

Did you spot the rough-scaled snake?

As msn news noted in its reveal, it was “hiding underneath the palm tree near the browning leaf to the left. . . The snake is gray in color and curled up, with its recognizable risen scales seen poking through the foliage.”

The location is circled, and an enlargement, clearly showing this venomous beast, is in the second photo:

 

 

 

 

Spot the snake!

March 22, 2018 • 8:00 am

Reader Malcolm called my attention to a spot-the-snake piece that appeared on msn news. Some information:

The Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers based in Queensland, Australia have challenged their followers to spot a deadly and ultra-aggressive rough-scaled snake  [Tropidechis carinatus] hiding in the picture below.

[Snake-catcher Lochi] said the snake was over four feet long and was found in the Sunshine Coast bush while he was out walking.

Can you spot it? This is a hard one! Answer at noon Chicago time.

 

 

Here are the bugwalleys!

January 3, 2018 • 1:00 pm

Did you spot the lizards? One was obvious; the other not. Here’s the reveal from reader Michelle Pearse:

I’ve enlarged the section at the upper left showing the hard-to-spot one, raised up on its front legs:

And the bird, as several readers guessed, was a ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpes) in winter plumage.

Spot the bugwallys!

January 3, 2018 • 8:15 am

We have two biology quizzes today. This one is a “spot the. . .” post, but Matthew has a more challenging quiz to follow shortly.

First, what is a bugwally? Reader Michelle Pearce, who sent the photo, explains:

Seen on a recent Turks and Caicos island escape from the cold Canadian winter: spot the curly-tailed lizards! It runs on stilted legs, with its tail curled and off the ground. I found this:

“Turks & Caicos curly-tail (bugwally) Leiocephallus psammodromus: Often heard crashing its way through leaf litter, this active lizard is found only in the Turks & Caicos Islands. DNA research shows that populations on different islands are genetically distinct and there are many subspecies. Locally called bugwally, these lizards feed on berries and insects.”

Can you spot the two bugwalleys (bugwallies)? (One is easy; the other not.) Click to enlarge; reveal at 1 p.m. Chicago time:

And here’s a mystery bird that was in her email. Can you identify it?