Lacerta Bilineata
Ticino
Ticino
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
More TICINO/TESSIN Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili... (the website exists in ESPAΓOL, FRANΓAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI
ABOUT THE PHOTO:
The photo above was taken this past May and shows parts of my garden and the surrounding hills just as the sun was setting after a heavy thunderstorm, which is when the light and the colors are at their most intense, most magical; it was one of those rare moments that usually only last for a few minutes (sometimes not even that), and you have to be quick to capture them.
The reason I like the photo quite a bit is that it shows a side of my country that is far less known to the people abroad than our snowy mountains and green meadows with friendly cows or the glitz of St. Moritz, Zermatt and Zurich: it shows you "my" tropical Switzerland π.
And the thing is, the spot in Ticino where I'm fortunate enough to own a vacation home - a tiny, 400-year old stone building only 70 meters from the Italian border - doesn't just look like it lies in the tropics: it actually sort of does, at least during the summer months.
With temperatures frequently in the mid 30s (Celsius) and a level of humidity that is high enough to make you break out in a sweat the second you leave the house, the micro-climate is not that dissimilar from what you might find in a rain forest.
The air can grow so heavy that people unaccustomed to it might feel like they have a hard time breathing (when friends of mine who originally are from Brazil visited me for a couple of days during a particularly hot period, even they struggled and told me they felt as if they were inhaling steam).
On the plus-side, this tropical micro-climate allows the people in our village to grow lemons, peaches, figs and kiwi fruits in addition to the more traditional apricots, grapes apples and cherries, and even palm trees like the one in this photo are a very common sight throughout the region.
Luckily our houses are traditionally built in a way to keep out the heat even during the hottest months, so the few remaining permanent residents of the village (around 40 people most of whom are over the age of sixty), find soothing cool as soon as they enter the thick stone walls of their homes.
The village itself is built on a rock that is surrounded by dense chestnut forest on all sides that stretches on until the horizon, only interrupted every now and then by a village, a vineyard or a small stream in a valley with a few fields.
So it's hardly a surprise that this tiny tropical paradise is a place where a great variety of beautiful insects, snakes and colorful lizards (that most people probably wouldn't immediately associate with typical Swiss fauna either) feel very much at home, and I feel incredibly blessed that I need only step outside and enter my garden to capture it with my camera π.
In case people are interested I might upload a photo that shows a bit more of our village one day, but for now I'll continue to stick with my beloved "creepy crawlies" (as some of my friends here jokingly refer to them) and continue to concentrate on nature, wildlife and landscape photos. π
I hope you like the photo and wish you all a wonderful weekend! Many greetings from Switzerland, and as always: let me know what you think in the comments π π β€!
P.S. This is probably going to be my last upload in 2022, so HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyone!! ππππ!!
Ticino
Ticino
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
More TICINO/TESSIN Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili... (the website exists in ESPAΓOL, FRANΓAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI
ABOUT THE PHOTO:
The photo above was taken this past May and shows parts of my garden and the surrounding hills just as the sun was setting after a heavy thunderstorm, which is when the light and the colors are at their most intense, most magical; it was one of those rare moments that usually only last for a few minutes (sometimes not even that), and you have to be quick to capture them.
The reason I like the photo quite a bit is that it shows a side of my country that is far less known to the people abroad than our snowy mountains and green meadows with friendly cows or the glitz of St. Moritz, Zermatt and Zurich: it shows you "my" tropical Switzerland π.
And the thing is, the spot in Ticino where I'm fortunate enough to own a vacation home - a tiny, 400-year old stone building only 70 meters from the Italian border - doesn't just look like it lies in the tropics: it actually sort of does, at least during the summer months.
With temperatures frequently in the mid 30s (Celsius) and a level of humidity that is high enough to make you break out in a sweat the second you leave the house, the micro-climate is not that dissimilar from what you might find in a rain forest.
The air can grow so heavy that people unaccustomed to it might feel like they have a hard time breathing (when friends of mine who originally are from Brazil visited me for a couple of days during a particularly hot period, even they struggled and told me they felt as if they were inhaling steam).
On the plus-side, this tropical micro-climate allows the people in our village to grow lemons, peaches, figs and kiwi fruits in addition to the more traditional apricots, grapes apples and cherries, and even palm trees like the one in this photo are a very common sight throughout the region.
Luckily our houses are traditionally built in a way to keep out the heat even during the hottest months, so the few remaining permanent residents of the village (around 40 people most of whom are over the age of sixty), find soothing cool as soon as they enter the thick stone walls of their homes.
The village itself is built on a rock that is surrounded by dense chestnut forest on all sides that stretches on until the horizon, only interrupted every now and then by a village, a vineyard or a small stream in a valley with a few fields.
So it's hardly a surprise that this tiny tropical paradise is a place where a great variety of beautiful insects, snakes and colorful lizards (that most people probably wouldn't immediately associate with typical Swiss fauna either) feel very much at home, and I feel incredibly blessed that I need only step outside and enter my garden to capture it with my camera π.
In case people are interested I might upload a photo that shows a bit more of our village one day, but for now I'll continue to stick with my beloved "creepy crawlies" (as some of my friends here jokingly refer to them) and continue to concentrate on nature, wildlife and landscape photos. π
I hope you like the photo and wish you all a wonderful weekend! Many greetings from Switzerland, and as always: let me know what you think in the comments π π β€!
P.S. This is probably going to be my last upload in 2022, so HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyone!! ππππ!!