27/02/21

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Another sunny day, with a definite feeling of spring. Lesser Celandine is starting to flower in warmer spots, and a hoverfly was taking advantage of the available nectar.

Lesser Celandine and hoverfly

Characteristic pit-chu calls alerted me to a nearby Marsh Tit.  A stunning male Bullfinch sang softly in the hedgerow but didn't show well enough for a picture.

Marsh Tit

A total of five Adders was found, two in DV, two in PV, and one in TF. An estimate of overall population size is a nice objective, though no doubt very difficult to achieve, involving the identification of individual snakes. The best distinguishing feature is the shape of the zig-zag pattern on the upperparts, especially behind the head. Some individuals have a distinctive feature, such as the Adder in the third picture, with an inverted heart-shaped pattern to the rear of the head. However, others can be very similar, so an uphill task to identify individuals from one visit to another.  All Adders seen today appear to be males.

I'm now well into double figures for the number of Adders seen this year, but surprisingly have yet to see a Slow-worm.

Found in TF

DV

DV

PV

PV


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