Favoritos de murderspagurder

very quickly scampered off under the dried leaves before I could get a picture. I've seen these before, but they're usually too fast to get a picture.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/149768438

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142401407

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/118115619

If you're unaware, drawings are permitted as observations, so please do not incorrectly mark down the data quality as "no evidence of organism" or incorrect date or anything like that.

Drawings are allowed as per the official guidelines, and there's even a whole project dedicated to collecting them: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/nature-drawing-and-journaling

This drawing is not very detailed because I did not have the opportunity to sit there drawing it while it held perfectly still for me like a master painter doing a portrait. I drew this one my phone within a minute of it rustling the leaves, drawing my gaze, and running off again before I had time to get my camera out of my pocket.

I drew the important details of the distinctive color markings and noted the very small size, much smaller than any of the other skinks in this area, including juveniles. This was smaller than my finger.

It would be dishonest of me to draw more detail onto this by just looking at pictures of this species, so please don't ask me to.

I have the worst picture ever taken of a bald eagle on my camera now. This is to mark the location. It must live here.

Seen from the car circling the marsh with another bird

the worst picture ever taken has now been added from my camera.

I didn't have my camera with me, but even then, I probably wouldn't have got a photo. I'm pretty sure this was a Barred Owl that flew out of the woods onto a powerline. It had brown vertical streaks on its belly, was about the size of a Barred Owl, had no "ears", and was overall grey. I found a dead Barred Owl in almost the same spot last year. I drew this photo to represent what I saw as well as having something to attach to this observation.

No, this is not a photograph. Fooled you! Prints are available by special request.

Unfortunately I could not get this guy in hand or lens so this doozey of a field sketch will have to do. This is the first time I've seen this species at Leon Sinks despite expecting it for some time, so I needed to document it. I guess you'll have to trust me I can tell this apart from the skinks, even the ones without blue tails.

It was running around in sandhill under some shrubby sparkleberry that had burned about a year before.