Wild Common Lizards...1st of the season for me...plus a nictitating membrane shot! Now with added Slow Worm!

[Testudo Man]

Another Reptile session was had last Sunday, an this time it was a Common Lizards turn.
3 Common Lizards seen, plus a well hidden Slow Worm............an the same 2 male Adders.
Some images, cheers Paul. Images are not cropped.

Common Lizard, 1st of the year for me! No cropping. by Tort Man, on Flickr

Common Lizard, 1st of the year for me! No cropping. by Tort Man, on Flickr

Common Lizard, showing its nictitating membrane. No cropping. by Tort Man, on Flickr

 

[Cobra]

It's great to see our native species in their own environment.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Testudo Man]

It's great to see our native species in their own environment.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for that Chris.
Yes, locate the right habitat, spend some time searching, an sooner or later you will be rewarded with what you seek.
4+ hours in that session, with good results...cant be bad for the time of year.
Cheers Paul.
PS. with strong sunlight, warm temps, i expected to see more than just 2 butterfly species on the day (Peacock an Brimstone) but you cant win em all!

 

[Cobra]

Yes, locate the right habitat, spend some time searching, an sooner or later you will be rewarded with what you seek.

As a kid, I used to play on a local disused railway embankment.
It was somewhat overgrown, and an amount of dumped rubbish.
I couldn't go more than a few feet without seeing basking grass snakes,
Adders were quite rare in comparison.

More recently the line is being bought back into service ( soon) the banks are / have been stripped bare, and the surrounding grass/ farm land turned into leisure / kiddie parks,
There is some farm land with a pond, the far side of the south facing embankment, maybe 500 yards away.
I just hope that some made it, but I fear it doesn't bode well.

 

[Testudo Man]

As a kid, I used to play on a local disused railway embankment.
It was somewhat overgrown, and an amount of dumped rubbish.
I couldn't go more than a few feet without seeing basking grass snakes,
Adders were quite rare in comparison.

More recently the line is being bought back into service ( soon) the banks are / have been stripped bare, and the surrounding grass/ farm land turned into leisure / kiddie parks,
There is some farm land with a pond, the far side of the south facing embankment, maybe 500 yards away.
I just hope that some made it, but I fear it doesn't bode well.

We all saw more wildlife back in the day Chris, its unfortunate that habitat loss is real, an its happening all the time. Im sure some of those Grass Snakes made it.

This location i visit is a working forest, that means trees are being cut down, log piles come an go...optimum habitat/basking areas are lost, so the creatures are forced to disperse/move on/re-locate. In the 12+ years that ive observed this site, numbers of Reptiles have really declined. 10 years ago, i could easily find up to 10 Adders in a short walk! no such luck now!
I was talking to a local "old timer" a couple of years ago(on this site) an he said he counted over 30 Adders all basking on one log pile (at this location, 20 years ago). So from his sightings, to my sightings, to todays sightings...things dont look good at all.
Cheers Paul.

 

[Cobra]

We all saw more wildlife back in the day Chris, its unfortunate that habitat loss is real, an its happening all the time.

Sadly you are right Paul.
I have lived in Milton Keynes, well before it was MK.
Back then it was a collection of villages, with nothing in between save farm land, and wood land.

We do have the the "Parks Trust" that manage the existing woodland, and the surviving SSSI's
I think its a good job that they do TBH. Otherwise these areas would also be housing estates.

 

[Testudo Man]

Sadly you are right Paul.
I have lived in Milton Keynes, well before it was MK.
Back then it was a collection of villages, with nothing in between save farm land, and wood land.

We do have the the "Parks Trust" that manage the existing woodland, and the surviving SSSI's
I think its a good job that they do TBH. Otherwise these areas would also be housing estates.

I get it, i know we need more houses being built, expanding population an all that, but as long as our native species can survive/thrive, an their habitats are not all destroyed/wiped out, then its all good................................lets not dwell on that, but to brighten the mood, here is an extra image of a Slow Worm i found, which was a few feet from the Lizards.
Cheers Paul.

Slow Worm, hidden amongst the leaf litter. by Tort Man, on Flickr

 

[Cobra]

I get it, i know we need more houses being built, expanding population an all that, but as long as our native species can survive/thrive, an their habitats are not all destroyed/wiped out, then its all good..

My ex brother-in-law lived in an old well established estate in Slough, he always had slow worms in his small urban garden.
I guess that proves some species will always manage to eek out and existence one way or another.

 

[Gav.]

Great to see, lovely images, thank you for sharing these

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Oh god it's hard but true to say I loved reading the debate...................... sad reflection of what's being lost in B and W

Paul the first common liz and the slow worm OMG stunning images buddy it's the intimacy Paul

I really like the OFF mush the surrounds the super sharp heads

hard core stunning bud

TFS

 

[Testudo Man]

My ex brother-in-law lived in an old well established estate in Slough, he always had slow worms in his small urban garden.
I guess that proves some species will always manage to eek out and existence one way or another.

Im the same, i live in suburbia, an ive seen a couple of Slow Worms in my garden.
I used to have an upturned, old metal bucket in the garden, an on warm Spring days, if you lifted the bucket up, you sometimes saw a Slow Worm.

Great to see, lovely images, thank you for sharing these

Thanks for that.

Oh god it's hard but true to say I loved reading the debate...................... sad reflection of what's being lost in B and W

Paul the first common liz and the slow worm OMG stunning images buddy it's the intimacy Paul

I really like the OFF mush the surrounds the super sharp heads

hard core stunning bud

TFS

Thanks mate...there will always be these kinds of debates, which is good.

As you know, Common Lizards will allow you to get quite close to them, as long as you stay low, an move real slow.
The Slow Worm was a real surprise, i sighted his tail 1st, then moved in for a close up. He had lost the end of his tail (old injury, healed) an was showing signs of scar tissue to his head, so he had been in the "Wars", before entering hibernation last year. Tough old git though, because although he wasnt basking in the open, he had survived his Autumn attack/ordeal.
Cheers Paul.

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Tell me bud do you see slow worm with blue scales.kinda sky blue..used to see them as a kid in Devon.always wondered if it was a local gene thing?

"He" because the head is how can a say thicker more robust than female ?

 

[Testudo Man]

Tell me bud do you see slow worm with blue scales.kinda sky blue..used to see them as a kid in Devon.always wondered if it was a local gene thing?

"He" because the head is how can a say thicker more robust than female ?

Yes mate, you tend to associate blue spots/scales with that of an adult male. The female mainly shows dark lines/stripes running down her body.
Again, the male has a larger/broader/chunkier head than the female, he appears larger, but i think the female can grow longer in length.

When i 1st caught sight of the small tail section (amongst the leaves) it showed the blue spots/scales...an although i couldnt see much of the slow worm, the larger head suggested to me that this was a male.
Cheers Paul.

 

[Dale.]

Very cool captures and great to see.