June 23, 2004
MORE LIZARD SEX! This time on a branch of the olive tree outside my western (office) window. I think these big guys are all collared lizards—the males, anyway, have visible collars and their bodies are mostly gray except for brightly colored spots that have to do with either camouflage or sex or both. In this case, it was the smaller lizard that seemed to want the sex, while the big collared guy was trying to escape. The small one kept putting her body underneath his and he kept moving on. I may have been misreading the whole situation, but that’s what it looked like. Last I saw, the big one was running down the branch toward the ground, with the small one in pursuit.

Also yesterday afternoon I saw two doves sitting in the pond, the water about halfway up their bodies, like a little kid sitting in a wading pool.

And I finally saw (but didn’t hear) a mockingbird! This was a juvenile (short tail), and it was flitting around the lantana just outside the pond. It seemed to be having trouble flying. I started worrying that maybe it had drunk from the pond and been poisoned. I looked all around the lantana, but saw no bodies.

Nevertheless, just to be safe, this morning I pumped the water out of the pond and filled it with more water. If this doesn’t result in birds flocking to the pond, I may try that again.