Birding and other distractions

A sunny morning and setting off from home I heard a commotion from across the road of a bird in distress. It wasn't too surprising to find that it was an unfortunate Starling in the clutches of a female Sparrowhawk. I watched the struggle from inside the car, though the Sparrowhawk appeared somewhat unconcerned as other people walked past on the pavement. It started to pluck the Starling there and then, so I continued on my way. At the park I found four male Adders at BW, one of them a good size individual in full view. Nearby a brightly marked male surprised me when it took a short cut across the corner of the grassy field, instead of keeping close to cover which I normally expect with Adders. Turning left along the coastal path another male Adder plus a female were found several hundred metres away in a new spot noted this year. Female Sparrowhawk with prey  

Very sunny, though still with a cool wind. Despite the wet winter the ground is now dry underfoot due to the absence of rain this month.  On downland cowslips are now in bloom, while in wooded areas the wood anemone are in full flower. Good evidence this morning that Adders have sloughed, with two cast skins being found in TF. A few metres from one of the skins a male Adder was found, now looking very smart albeit fairly well hidden amongst vegetation. The only other adult was found in PV, seemingly yet to slough. It was encouraging to find juvenile Adders today, two in PV and another two in TF, probably all born last summer. One of those in PV was laying up next to a Slow-worm, the other juvenile there being less than a metre away. Similarly, both juveniles in TF were together, under tin in this case. Five Slow-worms were found in total, one in PV, three in DV, and one in TF. Probably all males. The piping call from Bullfinch continues to be heard from bushes along the top of TF, ...

A sunny morning, becoming cloudier after midday.  The blackthorn blossom looked superb. Some new birds in the area included 1-2 Willow Warbler, singing well and feeding in the blackthorn. Nearby a Common Whitethroat was in song, with a Swallow also seen. Chiffchaff and Blackcap are present in suitable habitat throughout the area, though the latter were more often heard than seen. Brent Geese were just offshore; in the Medway this species can linger until May. Conditions were ideal to find Adders, a total of seven being seen, starting in DE with three  males.  The first there had  obvious cloudy eyes, indicating the imminent skin shed. In comparison a male near BW looked very bright, having recently sloughed. In its new skin this is the first seen  like this this year. Further along the path were two females, also the first for the year. Surprisingly only a single Adder was seen at CL, albeit a melanistic individual. A small number of butterflies were active, mos...

A sunny day with some interesting observations of reptiles. Rather belatedly the first Slow-worms of the year were recorded, six in total, and all under refugia. All were males, most with tails that had been lost and partially regrown. Six Adders were also seen, the highlight being a small juvenile in TF, no doubt born last year, and the first I have seen there. Other Adders included a melanistic individual at the far end of DV, a regular spot for them. A normal coloured male seen before in TF was now 'in the blue', indicating an imminent slough of the skin.  The vision of such individuals must be greatly impaired with those cloudy eyes. Three of the Adders were in PV probably still the best location for these reptiles at the site, though compared to last year now more difficult to monitor due to the growth of vegetation, especially dogwood and bramble. The reptile list was completed by a Common Lizard near the stile in DV. No surprise that insect activity was good in the sunsh...