Australian Water Dragons (Intellagama lesueurii) are large dragon lizards, reaching a length of more than two metres. You’ll often spot them close to creeks and other bodies of water (hence the name, Water Dragon). Sometimes, you’ll see them actually in the water:

They can stay under water for an hour before coming up to breathe! From a distance, their heads are easy to mistake for a piece of log sticking up. As you draw closer, the rest of the body becomes clearer. This is a different dragon in a nearby spot:

They’re completely at home on the land too. When you approach them, they tend to stay still, pretending to be a tree stump, until you get too close.

Water Dragons eat insects, fruit, and flowers.

A few days ago, I came across a Water Dragon that had spotted a piece of litter (a wet tissue or picnic wipe) and was nosing it when I came along. The video shows the dragon’s characteristic side-to-side gait as it moves away from the litter. (I picked up the litter and took it away.)