Southern rock agama chilling on a rock along a hiking trail. Baviaanskloopf, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2020). Called the ' dark agama' in French. Short, plump body, with a thin dorsal crest, a thin tail and a triangular head.During the breeding season, the heads of males become bright blue. Males take to sitting on top… Continue reading Southern rock agama (Agama atra)
Tag: subspecies
Cape glossy starling (Lamprotornis nitens)
Cape glossy starling perched on the rails of a cattle kraal. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). A fairly large, short-tailed, uniformly glossy starling. Green head, with bright orange-yellow eyes but without darker ear coverts. Reddish-bronze shoulder patch, and glossy green belly and flanks. Larger than the arboreal black-bellied starling (Notopholia… Continue reading Cape glossy starling (Lamprotornis nitens)
Spotted sand lizard (Pedioplanis lineoocellata ssp. pulchella)
Spotted sand lizard in situ. Bavianskloof, Eastern Cape (2020). Orange to grey lizard, with white-blue and dark bordered ocelli (eye-like markings) on flanks and numerous paler spots on the back, which may fuse into a dorsolateral lines.Sexes distinguished in adults by the presence of a hemi-penal bulge (a bulge on the base of the tail… Continue reading Spotted sand lizard (Pedioplanis lineoocellata ssp. pulchella)
White-breasted cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus)
Gang of white-breasted cormorant on the rocky shore. Kidds Beach, Eastern Cape (2018). Adult has a white throat and breast, washed pink in marine populations, with white thigh patches in breeding plumage, yellow skin at the base of the bill, and turquoise eyes. Juvenile has white underparts and browner upperparts. About 90 cm. The largest… Continue reading White-breasted cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus)
