Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Tracking the big fella

I spent about half an hour tracking this guy off trail at the weekend. He was moving through thick forest and I could hear his every step as he rustled and scratched his way slowly through the forest. Periodically we'd get glimpses of each other and he'd give me the headbob display acknowledging my presence. Eventually he strolled out across this cut in the trees and was immediately lit up spectacularly by the sun - he waited for a few seconds basking and went on his way.

pinguis

This is a big male Cyclura pinguis or stout iguana - he has size and his crest to show his dominance over this area of the island. He was also very prettily coloured, his crest and tail were tinged duckegg blue (you can see the faintest traces of this in the shot above).

pinguis2

I'm not sure what he'd been eating (perhaps mango) but it was all over the right side of his face. Anyway after showing me his untidy side and one last headbob the big fella retreated to his forest kingdom and I retreated to the beach bar for a lemonade.

1 comment:

jason said...

What a beautiful creature (if not a bit messy with wearing his last meal and all). Glad he gave you a chance for a few photos.