Wall lizards

The spring is here. Most of the plants are sprouting. I have found some dragonfly larvae an some water beetles, still small sized. Water fleas are moving around, forming swarms in the water. On the surface, the water striders skate, fast and not easy to catch with the camera.

Aquarius najas (=Gerris najas)

The terrapins, after a week of intense sexual activity, have taken a break.  I haven't seen them mating for the last couple of days. In fact today the male has been all the morning out of the water, hidden among the vegetation, while the female was swimming around.

When I noticed that in the last 4 hours he had not moved, I took him. I wanted to check he was not ill. He looked well. I put him in the water and he swam normally. I offered him food and he took it. All seems to go well.

Regarding the female, she has eaten quite a lot. I have offered her the food in the form of pudding. Another day I will talk about it, but I use it because it doesn't leave debris around and it is easy to pick up what they do not eat. It helps to keep the water in good conditions.

Eating the pudding

The female at some distance

Wall lizards are the other reptile inhabitants of the pond. Maybe because they take me to childhood, I specially appreciate them. Lean and agile, they are naturally confident and they feel a great curiosity about what happens around them. When you approach them they turn they head to better assess the situation. If you come too near, they fly away, but if you stand still, they reappear. They are wild animals and they are there for their own decision, this adds charm to the situation. I think the pond offers them a good habitat. There is water (I have seen them drinking from the pond) and there are plenty of small insects and arachnids which they eat. The pond is south facing, so there is plenty of sun, which they enjoy.

The coloration and proportions suggest it is a female.

The aspect suggests it is a male. 

In this case the tail is regenerating. Wall lizards tail off very easily. When this happens the detached segment performs abrupt movements and contortions that mislead the predator while the lizard escapes. In this case it worked. Although they regenerate the tail, is has a different color and the scales look different. It was probably done by a cat or a bird. Cats, on which I personally believe that should not be let out of the houses, are especially problematic for wall lizards. A fence prevents the access of cats to the pond area. I think this has benefited the lizards.

The picture captured the moment when the male prolapsed the hemipenis. I don't know why he did it.