{"id":144376,"date":"2025-05-17T02:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T07:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=144376"},"modified":"2025-05-30T15:12:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T20:12:27","slug":"male-eastern-collared-lizard-photos-from-wichita-mountains-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/17\/male-eastern-collared-lizard-photos-from-wichita-mountains-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Eastern Collared Lizard Photos From Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had never photographed an Eastern Collared Lizard until earlier this week at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> in beautiful southwestern Oklahoma. These striking lizards were photographic lifers for me.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Eastern Collared Lizard on a lichen covered boulder \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew there was a very good chance of getting wonderful images of Eastern Collared Lizards at the refuge because my dear friend and excellent wildlife photographer Steve Creek had taken great photos of them<\/span><\/a> there before.<\/p>\n

I was thrilled to photograph this male lizard on a lichen-covered boulder, and when he turned back to look at me, it made my photos even better because of the catch light in his eye.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Eastern Collared Lizard at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The lizard\u2019s bright yellows and turquoise blue stood out beautifully against the reddish boulder, and the yellow lichen echoed the color of his head.<\/p>\n

His “collar” doesn\u2019t show well in these first two photos. I was hoping to get some that showed it more clearly.<\/p>\n

\"BrightBright and colorful male Eastern Collared Lizard \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1\/2500, ISO 1250, -0.3 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The next day, on a different boulder, in a different location, and with a different lizard, I took the photos I\u2019d been hoping for that showed off the collar this species gets its name from.<\/p>\n

I liked the alert pose of this bright, colorful male Eastern Collared Lizard too.<\/p>\n

The female and young of this collared lizard species aren\u2019t as bright or as colorful, but I spent time focused on them as well. Hopefully, I\u2019ll get some of those images processed soon so I can share them.<\/p>\n

I had a great deal of fun photographing lizards at the refuge while I was there.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my reptile and amphibian photos in their galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had never photographed an Eastern Collared Lizard until earlier this week at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in beautiful southwestern Oklahoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16439,16448,13973,16438],"tags":[4004,4138,16459,5007,6303,16457,16456,3291,9979,14165,14164,4062,16458,13136,4921,752,165],"class_list":["post-144376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comanche-county","category-eastern-collared-lizards","category-oklahoma","category-wichita-mountains-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-boulder","tag-boulder-field","tag-bright","tag-colorful","tag-crotaphytus-collaris","tag-eastern-collared-lizard","tag-lichen","tag-lichens","tag-lizard","tag-lizards","tag-male","tag-mountain-boomer","tag-reptiles","tag-rock","tag-rocky-outcrop","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ByE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":147619,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/31\/female-eastern-collared-lizard-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":144376,"position":0},"title":"Female Eastern Collared Lizard Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this month when I shared male Eastern Collared Lizard images, I said I'd also share some photos of the females. 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Rocks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This Lark Sparrow was on such a beautiful pile of lichen-covered rocks at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge last week that I had to take a photo.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lark Sparrow on lichen covered rocks at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lark-sparrow-lichen-rocks-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2684.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lark-sparrow-lichen-rocks-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2684.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Dog With Parent","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm back from Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, where I was thrilled to photograph a young Black-tailed Prairie Dog at a burrow with an adult.","rel":"","context":"In "Black-tailed Prairie Dogs"","block_context":{"text":"Black-tailed Prairie Dogs","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/black-tailed-prairie-dogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-tailed Prairie Dog and baby at their burrow, Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-tailed-prairie-dogs-WMNWR-mia-mcpherson-6260.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-tailed-prairie-dogs-WMNWR-mia-mcpherson-6260.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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