{"id":145882,"date":"2025-05-22T04:33:52","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T09:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=145882"},"modified":"2025-05-22T05:58:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T10:58:52","slug":"male-prairie-lizard-at-wichita-mountains-nwr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/22\/male-prairie-lizard-at-wichita-mountains-nwr\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Prairie Lizard at Wichita Mountains NWR"},"content":{"rendered":"

A quick share this morning of a male Prairie Lizard I photographed on a boulder at a campsite at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

\"PrairiePrairie Lizard at a campsite in Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/400, ISO 800, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The temperature hit 100\u00b0F that afternoon, and the male Prairie Lizard was on a boulder in the shade of the oak trees surrounding the campsite at the Doris Campground. I grabbed my camera and set out to photograph him.<\/p>\n

Male Prairie Lizards display distinct iridescent blue patches bordered by black on the belly and throat.<\/p>\n

Prairie Lizards thrive in a variety of habitats including grasslands with sparse vegetation, sandy soils, rocky outcrops, open woodlands, woodland edges, and prairies. They are often seen basking on rocks, logs, tree trunks, and fence posts.<\/p>\n

Prairie Lizards eat a variety of insects, including ants, beetles, spiders, and other small arthropods. They are ambush foragers and rely on basking in direct sunlight to maintain their body temperature.<\/p>\n

The Prairie Lizards<\/span><\/a> I saw at the refuge reminded me of the Eastern Fence Lizards I had in my yard and garden in Virginia.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Come to my Prairie Lizard gallery<\/span><\/a> later, I’ll add more photos when I have time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A quick share this morning of a male Prairie Lizard I photographed on a boulder at a campsite at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145869,"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":[16439,13973,16468,16438],"tags":[4004,4138,5281,16475,531,14165,14164,4062,16467,16473,13136,4921,16474,165],"class_list":["post-145882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comanche-county","category-oklahoma","category-prairie-lizards","category-wichita-mountains-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-boulder","tag-campsite","tag-cross-timbers","tag-lifer","tag-lizard","tag-lizards","tag-male","tag-oak-forest","tag-prairie-lizard","tag-reptiles","tag-rock","tag-sceloporus-consobrinus","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/prairie-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6545.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-BWW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":144376,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/17\/male-eastern-collared-lizard-photos-from-wichita-mountains-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":145882,"position":0},"title":"Male Eastern Collared Lizard Photos From Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I had never photographed an Eastern Collared Lizard until earlier this week at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in beautiful southwestern Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Comanche County"","block_context":{"text":"Comanche County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/comanche-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Eastern Collared Lizard at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3736.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":147619,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/31\/female-eastern-collared-lizard-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":145882,"position":1},"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. I'm doing that today before I forget.","rel":"","context":"In "Comanche County"","block_context":{"text":"Comanche County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/comanche-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eastern Collared Lizard female on a lichen covered rock, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-female-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-5111.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-female-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-5111.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-collared-lizard-female-wichita-mountains-wr-mia-mcpherson-5111.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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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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