OUR TALE of two reptiles sunning themselves on a branch has led to claims we were barking (or croaking) up the wrong tree.

A Courier photographer captured the unusual close-up shot of the creatures relaxing near Alyth on Thursday.

However, readers were quick to tell us that an error had slithered into our caption yesterday.

We mistakenly described the creatures newts, but an Email blizzard backing the common lizard soon reached our Kingsway office.

Trevor Rose of the National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme tells us they were zootoca vivipara—which is not a newt.

Art Sangster also Emailed to tell us that while newts are fully aquatic, lizards prefer to stay dry so the recent wet spell will not have been good for them, which may explain why they were sunbathing.

University of Dundee zoology student Douglas Lucas was delighted to see our wildlife photograph and named the lizard as Lacerta vivipara.

He told us, “This species of lizard is one of three kinds of lizard native to Britain. They tend to hibernate between October and March so are only spotted in the summer.”

With everyone keeping us right, the scales have certainly fallen from our eyes.