Gavin Farnell invited me to join him on a trip to the South of Qatar to an area adjacent the Saudi Border in search of this desert special. It was my first trip this far south and I was keen to see what the topography looked like. At the border post we left the tarmac and headed out into the desert hoping to track down this small creature. Gavin told me they sun themselves on top of small shrubs that dot the dune landscape and this is where we should concentrate our efforts. Its great when a plan comes together. We had not travelled far and there one was perched on top of a shrub. As we observed it, it jumped off onto the sand and scuttled off a short distance. Gavin had also told me how they are known to curl up their tail like a scorpion as a defence mechanism, and to watch out for this behaviour. Right on cue our Agama obliged. We had lovely visuals of this individual for a few more minutes. Another lifer for my Qatar list Our target species for the day, an Arabian Toad-headed Agama sunning itself on top of a shrub It leaps off the shrub onto the dune below It stood motionless on the sand, blending into the background perfectly Note the yellow/orange colouring on the back of the head Right on cue, the scorpion curled tail manoeuvre A final image before it scurried off as across the desert.
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