Butterfly Lizard Battle

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 9, 2011319 views12 comments

Here's an image from our Thailand tour. While we were sitting down and resting during the heat of the day our guide spotted 2 lizards and said they were "fighting". We got up and started taking pictures of the event. At first what I think must have been a territorial dispute started with the 2 lizards on the ground facing each other with their mouths open. But then all heck broke loose as the lizards started "flying" around in circles with their bodies flattened and mouths open. I kept my finger on the shutter and fired a burst of about 15 shots. This was my favorite image of the series. The species is Common Butterfly Lizard. Image taken at Huai Kha Kheang Wildlife Sanctuary.

It's cropped a bit from the left and the bottom, I don't have anymore room on the top or right. Thanks for any other comments or suggestions.

MkIII 500F4 1.4x 1/1600 F8, iso 800, handheld

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on March 9, 2011 at 9:30 PM

Good catch of the action. I do find the large OOF area in the LLC to be a bit distracting. Thanks for sharing. Must have been exciting to shoot!

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 9, 2011 at 10:36 PM

really interesting behavioral shot!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on March 10, 2011 at 10:23 AM

Nice action shot. They're ferocious little guys aren't they? And colorful. A little less of the oof fg would be nice

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on March 10, 2011 at 1:25 PM

Cool shot Nate! What a pity about the OOF FG triangle. To reduce its impact I would suggest to crop this pano by cropping more off the bottom. Thanks for sharing this unique image.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on March 10, 2011 at 5:13 PM

What subjects, what action and what postures! Nice catch with excellent exposure control. I agree with Vincent about the oof lower left.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on March 10, 2011 at 9:40 PM

Very cool! It looks like a combination of dancing and roaring (can lizards roar?)

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on March 11, 2011 at 12:15 AM

Hi Nate,

Although I've lived over here in Thailand for the better part of the past 21 years, in which time I've photographed more than a few different species of lizard, I've yet to come across the Butterfly Lizard, then again, I've yet to visit Huai Kha Kheang Wildlife Sanctuary ;^)

Wonderful action shot of which I particularly like the eye and the tongue you've managed to capture of the subject on the right, very well done :^)

Kind regards,

Ashley

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Andrius Pašukonis on March 11, 2011 at 12:59 AM

Wow! Some intense action here. Happy you shared this.

Registered on July 23, 2005, 111 Posts, 408 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on March 11, 2011 at 9:18 PM

That is some intense action, Nate. Very cool capture. I wish the OOF foreground was not there, but you take what you can get on these action shots sometimes.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Ellen deBoer on March 12, 2011 at 4:21 AM

What a great action shot, Nate! Must have been great to watch. I really like the flattened bodies, had no idea lizards could do that!

Registered on March 16, 2006, 419 Posts, 2076 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 13, 2011 at 3:08 PM

spectacular capture

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 14, 2011 at 4:45 AM

Whoa!!! Somehow I over looked this one earlier this week. An awesome catch Nate!!! Excellent behavior display and color.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments