Sex on the rocks

I got this set of pictures four years ago during a weekend in Gozo with my family. We were visiting a small freshwater pool at Dwejra. My intention was to take some photos of damselflies and dragonflies but as happens often in nature photography I ended up taking pictures of something totally unexpected.

I saw this beautiful male lizard sunning himself on top of a boulder. It looked tame and I moved close to it to get some pictures. Lizards on Gozo are tamer than those on Malta and I managed to get some beautiful closeups.

Half way through the photo session he was distracted by a female lizard that was passing by in the vicinity. He looked only once (it must have been love at first sight) and he left his boulder to follow her.

When he reached her he placed himself in front of her and started to show off his bright yellow throat. She must have been impressed by his display because she slowed down her pace.

When she passed by he ran after her and caught the tip of her tail in his mouth. She seemed to be ignoring him and continued walking. Sometimes he held placed his front leg on her tail to slow her down.

He then moved his mouth, one small bite at a time, towards the front part of the tail and beyond and continued until he was holding her from the abdomen.

While this was going on he was oblivious to the fact that I was taking pictures and three other people including two noisy young girls were watching him closely.

He then entwined himself around the female and twisted himself so that their genital organs were touching. He remained in this position for several seconds. When they were ready she continued walking in the original direction and he went back to his boulder.

The whole photo session took about five minutes but the actual courtship and copulation lasted less than a minute.

I had never seen this behaviour before and I have not seen it since even though I spend many hours every week in the countryside. One might call it luck but if you spend enough time out in nature you are bound to meet interesting situations.

Nature Photography

Maltese wall lizard (Podarcis filfolensis)

I am often asked by readers of my articles about my nature photographs the questions more often than not revolve about the kind of equipment I use. 

My reply is always “nothing special’ a reply which is received with scepticism.

 I have a micro lens which I use most of the time but it is possible to take nature pictures even with the most basic camera, this is especially true nowadays as even the pocket digital cameras can be used for close-up photography. 

The picture of the lizard on a wall accompanying this article was shot without any special equipment. The most important thing is not the equipment but the ability to see pictures where many others do not.

Plants are often surrounded by other vegetation; animals often hide themselves in their surrounding. 

The most important skill is to learn to see pictures in the surrounding clutter. To do this you must learn to look and observe with all your senses a skill you develop with a lot of practice which you can only get by spending a lot of time in the countryside taking pictures or just looking and observing.

By spending some time looking at a particular patch of ground, a bush or even just a small plant you will start seeing things which you previously failed to notice. Insects and flowers seem to pop out of nowhere.

 I often lie down on the ground to get a good point of view and while in that position I start seeing one photograph after the other and I end up taking up a lot of pictures of different objects from one spot.

My advice to anybody who wants to take nature pictures is to get out there and start shooting. 

With digital cameras you can shoot hundreds and thousands of pictures without any extra cost. Spend as much time as possible in the countryside. I spend at least one whole morning every weekend in the countryside to ensure that I have good pictures for my articles.

This article was published in The Times on 20.10.10