This was the big exciting find from my day #herping in Mojave National Preserve, my first chuckwalla! Wow they do live in the desert areas I'm used to hiking in, I've never actually seen one. After finding six other species of lizards in the same morning, I decided this would be my day to find a chuckwalla.

As I was driving through the Preserve, I spotted a low, basalt escarpment above a dry wash. Everything I'd read suggested that was perfect chuckwalla habitat.

I walked a quarter mile across the desert and then down to one end of the escarpment then all the way back up to the other and then on the way back down, I saw it! This handsome critter was surveying its domain from its perch about 15 feet up the cliff. Conveniently, it posed for a while before dipping out of sight.

#LizardReport #Lizard #MojaveDesert #herps

Another "life lizard" from my day #herping near Kelso Dunes, Mojave National Preserve. Long nosed leopard lizard. It sat there letting me photograph it for a while, then got bored and disappeared into a hole.

#LizardReport #lizard #herps