Hi Gary

What you saw was most likely a Northern Alligator Lizard which is pretty common in the Puget Sound region in appropriate habitats, which in my experience is any sunny dryish spot,especially with rocks, in our mostly unsunny moist environment. I've always wondered though if there might be some Western Fence Lizards up there in the upper Skagit ,especially in mini rainshadow spots like the east bank of Ross Lake ect. They are locally common in other dryish areas of the Sound ,as around the Tahuya Peninsula (inside hook of Hood Canal) and other spots. If you google Washington State GAP analysis (WDFS) there are distribution maps of state herp location records (along with birds and mammals). It dos'nt show Western Fence Lizard up there your way, but...

Happy lizard watching
Jeff Gibson
Everett Wa


> Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 10:51:04 -0700
> From: garybletsch at yahoo.com
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: [Tweeters] off-topic lizard question
>
> Dear Tweeters,
>
> On Friday, 5-19-2011, I glimpsed a brown lizard at the Newhalem Ponds, also called the Ag (aggregate) ponds, Whatcom County.
>
> It looked a lot like the lizards I used to see in rocky areas around Concrete, and which I identified as Northern Alligator Lizards.
>
> The one on Friday was the first I had seen since the 90's.
>
> So, a few questions come to mind.
>
> Is there any other lizard species that occurs in the Upper Skagit valley, or indeed in the Puget Trough?
>
> How common is the N. Alligator Lizard?
>
> Besides man-made rock piles along the river, what other habitats do they like?
>
> Yours truly,
>
>
> Gary Bletsch Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA garybletsch at yahoo.com Mentre che li occhi per la fronda verde
> ficcava ?o s? come far suole
> chi dietro a li uccellin sua vita perde, lo pi? che padre mi dicea: ?Figliuole,
> vienne oramai, ch? ?l tempo che n?? imposto
> pi? utilmente compartir si vuole?.
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters