Common Five-lined Skink on a fallen log at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge - Horizontal presentation, OklahomaCommon Five-lined Skink on a fallen log at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge – Horizontal presentation – Canon R7, handheld, f10, 1/640, ISO 800, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light

If I hadn’t found this Common Five-lined Skink the last time I went to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I would have driven home with only documentary images.

It has been so hot and dry here that the sloughs at the refuge have dried up. Birds and mammals are hard to find, and the leaves on trees are turning brown.

I have been expecting to see hatch-year birds all over the place but have been disappointed quite often. Some birds are already migrating.

I do have fall and winter birds to look forward to on these long, over 100° days we are still having. There have been twenty-nine of them so far this year, and I am seeing nine more of them in the ten-day forecast. Fall can’t get here soon enough.

Back to the skink. I couldn’t decide whether I liked a horizontal or vertical presentation of it, so I decided I’d share both.

Common Five-lined Skink on a fallen log at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge - Vertical presentation, OklahomaCommon Five-lined Skink on a fallen log at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge – Vertical presentation – Canon R7, handheld, f10, 1/640, ISO 800, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light

I’m fond of both images of this skink, but may prefer the horizontal a tiny bit more simply because the catch light seems easier to see in that presentation. At least at web size!

Several weeks ago, I photographed another skink in the same area. Each time I’ve gone back to the refuge, I slow down in that spot looking for more skinks. That has paid off a few times. Last week, I’m really glad one was hanging around.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Common Five-lined Skink photos plus facts and information about this species.