04/04/21

-

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 sunshine, an obvious species being the Dark-edged Bee-fly. 

Butterflies included four Peacock, two Brimstone, one-two Comma, and a single Small Tortoiseshell, my first of the year.

At least four Blackcaps were in song, plus a similar number of Chiffchaff.

Slow-worm

Juvenile Adder

Pre-slough male Adder

Melanistic Adder

Common Lizard

Dark-edged Bee-fly


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Northward Hill 25/06/25

-
Image
Another warm day so I spent the afternoon locally, at Northward Hill. The main quarry was White-letter Hairstreak, with about six being seen.. However, it was hard work and none came low, favouring instead the tops of Elm saplings. Whilst looking for WLH a White Admiral flew through and there were several Silver-washed Fritillary. Ringlet were in good numbers as were Marbled White. A few Peacock, Red Admiral, and Comma were also present. A couple of Lesser Whitethroat were singing and Blackcaps were still in fine voice. White-letter Hairstreak Ringlet Peacock
Read more

Sandwich/St.Margaret's 30/08/25

-
Image
The day started at Sandwich looking for a Spotted Crake mentioned on Birdguides. We parked at Sandwich Quay and then walked along the river for about 35 minutes during which a number of House Martins were seen, also three Clouded Yellow. On reaching New Downs South Pool the crake was on view straight away, venturing out from the reeds. It was backlit for much of the time so tricky to photograph. A Snipe was also there plus a number of Coot. In the afternoon we headed towards St. Margaret's, parking up in a layby on the Dover Road. Three Dotterel were present in a stubble field which had been harrowed. Excellent views of the birds were obtained, a n adult with two juveniles. The adult Dotterel was the first I've seen for a long time. The final stop was a brief look for Chough near Dover Castle. Eight birds were near the aviary and so quite distant. Spotted Crake The walk along the Stour Juvenile Dotterel  Adult Dotterel   
Read more

Elmley 16/09/25

-
Image
Less windy today and mostly sunny so I made what was belatedly my first visit to Elmley this year. The male Red-footed Falcon, initially found a couple of days ago, had been reported earlier th is morning.  To start with there was no sign of it after I arrived, however I  walked down to the brickfields and was surprised to see the bird there. It was sitting i n a grassy field though soon flew off, back up the track towards the oaks.  Good views of the falcon were then obtained, both in flight and sitting in the trees. It seemed to be a second-winter bird on account of some barring on the underwing due to a mixture of old and new flight feathers. It seems quite possible this bird is the same as that exactly one year ago when in juvenile plumage.  There were also a couple of Hobbies in the same area today. This was my first outing using the new OM1 so a bit of a learning exercise in how best to use it. First view of the falcon. Red-footed Falcon  Hobby 
Read more