There have been very few birds about recently but the number of Arabian Spiny-tailed Lizards seems to be increasing. Yesterday I saw four different animals and managed to photograph two of them. These two lizards show how the colour changes when they heat up turning from a blue grey colour to a bright yellow. Although I have seen plenty of the lizards recently I have yet to see one more than a metre away from its burrow, where they bolt to if disturbed. These burrows remain considerably cooler than the outside air temperature so they are also used as a refuge from the sun. The lizards enter the burrows headfirst, and the burrows have also been noted as refuges for a number of species of desert larks including Greater Hoopoe Lark although I have not seen this behaviour here in Dhahran.
