Lizard with an attitude

Way back on the first day of our trip, when we visited Antelope Island and hiked the Buffalo Point Trail, Tammy and I came across a lizard that was sunning itself on the edge of the trail. Naturally I wanted to take pictures, but was very cautious so that I did not scare the lizard away. I slowly swapped lenses on my camera and then bent over him to take a couple of pictures.

That angle was not working for the photographs or my back, so I decided to sit down on the opposite side of the trail. I hoped to get a picture that was more down to the lizard's level, instead of from my level looking down. I was half expecting that the lizard would spook and run away from me as I lowered myself down to the ground, but that did not happen. No...he decided to run towards me instead.

At first I had a tinge of alarm as I imagined a panicked lizard running up my shorts, or something weird like that. But he stopped just in front of me. And then he looked me straight in the eye for a moment or two, long enough for me to get my picture, before turning around and heading someplace more comfortable and out of the way of curious photographers.

I did not do a good job compensating for the harsh light, but I think the lizard pose is too good not to share.

Ruffed Grouse

While Tammy and I were in Grand Teton National Park, we hiked the trail around Jenny Lake, past Hidden Falls, and up to Inspiration Point. This is the same trail where we saw that cute Pika with the nasty tick between his eyes. Along this trail there was a spur trail over to a pond where you sometimes could see moose. We took that trail, but alas, there was no moose. On the other hand, I almost stepped on a Ruffed Grouse.

This is my second close encounter with a Ruffed Grouse. I ran into one on a trail in Maine in June of 2006 (no picture). When I saw the one in Maine, I thought that it was somewhat slow to react to my presence. It saw me, and kept watching me, as it kind of sauntered off into the woods. It did not fly away in a panic. It just slowly, but purposely, walked away into the underbrush. At that time I thought that behavior was a tad odd, but I had never had a close encounter with a Ruffed Grouse before, so what did I know?

So, as Tammy and I were scanning the pond in the hopes of spotting a moose, I noticed some movement on the ground near my feet. I immediately stopped and watched as a Ruffed Grouse sauntered across the trail in front of me. Once again, this bird slowly but purposely, with no panic evident in its movements, made its way into the underbrush. Two close encounters with a Ruffed Grouse, same behavior each time.

Here is a picture of the pond with a reflection of the Grand Tetons in it. I timed the shot perfectly so that the water would be rippled, thereby preventing a clear reflection of the mountains (sarcasm). Tammy did a much better job with this opportunity. The next two photos are of the Ruffed Grouse that I almost stepped on.