At great personal cost (ie loss of sleep) last night's Central Coast Gecko shots for @neerav

This is Phyllurus platurus or a close relative, AKA Southern Broadtailed Gecko. They are slightly unusual (I think) in having that blue colouring on the back of the neck. There are 2 of them here, male and female (not that I checked in detail but at an educated guess) both pictured on a pathway in my tiny and slightly wild suburban garden on the Central Coast of NSW. The time was 11pm. Having promised @neerav some Gecko shots I thought I'd better get out there and find some small, flat, spiky reptiles. Armed with a Nikon D50 and an LED bike headlight (as spotlight and as an aid to manual focusing, not always easy in the dark - in fact quite a pain to do) I set off on my crazy night-time adventure. This could take some time and will require patience, resolute purpose and a keen eye I thought to myself as I set off down the path to the most likely Gecko-location, almost squishing my first Gecko in the process. Ah, there's one, just near my left foot.

As I crouched down carefully to get close I realised a few things. Firstly, he's decided not to run tonight (they usually run from cameras) and secondly the perfect camouflage for a stone pathway is also a great way to get trodden on. Then I noticed, to my right, a pair of tiny slitted eyes watching me focus on lizard "a". Of course it was lizard "b", doing the same frozen, camouflaged thing. As I was crouched over a funnel web hole at the time I thought I'd reposition myself both for safety (not wishing to die for my cause) and to take full photographic advantage of these rock-still reptiles before they realised I had a Nikon on me and bolted. With that thought lizard (b) sensed my weakness and made for the hills but - thankfully - once on the leaf-litter it froze again. Hence these shots, brought to you by luck, sheer chance and successful reptilian adaptation to the human built environment.

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