A Lace Monitor lizard was strolling around the West Head Lookout area in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park when we visited this morning. We stood still as soon as we saw the lizard. It came quite close to us, then veered off when it noticed we were there.

Lace Monitors are the second largest lizard species in Australia, being up to 2 metres long. This one was quite small: about a metre long and quite slender.

Lace Monitors are good at climbing trees. They eat birds’ eggs, small birds in their nests, and other small creatures. They lay their eggs in termite hills, and they live about 20 years.

West Head Lookout gives gorgeous views across the Hawkesbury River and Pittwater waterways. In the distance is the Palm Beach peninsula with the Barrenjoey lighthouse on the headland at the end of the long strip of land. Beyond the peninsula is the South Pacific Ocean.