{"id":285,"date":"2011-10-20T22:50:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-20T22:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/?p=285"},"modified":"2020-04-02T20:32:32","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T20:32:32","slug":"sand-lizards-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/?p=285","title":{"rendered":"Sand Lizards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Restricted to the Dorset Heathlands, parts of Surrey and closer to the home the sand-dunes of Formby, the Sand Lizard is the rarest of the UK\u2019s native lizards. Fortunately they\u2019re relatively common at the RSPB\u2019s nature reserve at Arne. Apparently the resident Kestrels successfully raise their family each year on an almost exclusive diet of Sand Lizards. Likewise they also form the majority of the Smooth Snake\u2019s diet.<\/p>\n

Normally I can get relatively close to reptiles before they disappear into the undergrowth however the Sand Lizards at Arne are reluctant to break cover. Their cryptic colouring blends into the dead foliage and sun bleached leaves. If ever proof of Darwin\u2019s Theory of Natural Selection is needed these lizards are it. Thanks to the Kestrels only the wariest of the wary survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\"Male
\nMale Sand Lizard at Shipstal Point, Arne, Dorset. September 2011<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Sand<\/td>\n\n

\"Male<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Male Sand Lizard again at Arne in May 2011. Note the green pigment lost later in the year when the breeding season is over.<\/td>\n\n

About as close as I\u2019ve got to a Sand Lizard.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\"Common
\nCommon Lizard again taken in mid-September at Arne at the base of a grass tussock<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Restricted to the Dorset Heathlands, parts of Surrey and closer to the home the sand-dunes of Formby, the Sand Lizard is the rarest of the UK\u2019s native lizards. Fortunately they\u2019re relatively common at the RSPB\u2019s nature reserve at Arne. Apparently the resident Kestrels successfully raise Read More …<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[81,95],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reptiles","tag-arne","tag-sand-lizard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6314,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions\/6314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalbornblogger.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}