Adder (Vipera berus). Wild UK snake, up close! (Photo added).

Testudo Man

Testudo Man

Messages
954
Name
Paul
Edit My Images
No
Well, its that time of year again, when i go in search of our beautiful UK venomous snake, the Adder (Vipera berus).

Since the start of March (late for this season!) ive been "dropping in" to a local Kent area, where for the last 5 years, ive been observing a small colony of Adders. Ive sighted 5 different snakes this year, since they started to emerge from hibernation.

Armed with a couple of new(secondhand) cameras for this season, the 1 inch sensor, 10 MP, Nikon V1 and J1 bodies(2.7 crop factor) coupled to either the native cx 30-110mm lens/Raynox 150, or via the FT1 adapter, Sigma macro 150mm lens. Hand held, Jpegs, Auto focus. Shooting in Aperture Mode for now, auto ISO set to max 800, shutter speed typically 1/500...The cameras are working quite well, producing good images to date.

Some close up images of a young adult male. Some images have been cropped, whilst others have not been cropped.
Cheers Paul.

Caution - Unless you know your subject very well, then since this is a venomous snake, take care when working in close distances.
At no time do i ever touch the snakes, i photograph them as i find them, in their natural habitat...I dont prescribe to taking images, that are clearly "set up".

Cropped image.
Male Adder. Nikon V1/Sigma 150mm. 17th-March-2016. by Testudo Man, on Flickr

Uncropped image.
Male Adder(uncropped). Nikon J1/30-110mm/Raynox 150. 17th-March-2016. by Testudo Man, on Flickr

Cropped image.
Male Adder. Nikon V1/Sigma 150mm. 17th-March-2016. by Testudo Man, on Flickr

Uncropped image.
Male Adder(Vipera berus) uncropped. 11th-March-2016. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
Nice shots and your set up seems to be working well for you.
 
Last edited:
Excellent shots and you are obviously very good ato finding them.. seems they respect you as you do them :D would love you to show me them but know they are your little secret :)
 
Great shots... I would rather stay a little further away from them, but do find them fascinating.

Reminds me of a rhyme from the Volvo handbook, to be read when the children are bored and in a traffic jam (honestly)

Why could'nt the viper vipe her nose???

Because the adder adder hankerchief.

Ok OK I'm off..

:):):):olympus:
 
Well done for getting some great close ups ,I've never even seen an adder.
 
alfbranch said:
Nice shots and your set up seems to be working well for you.
Click to expand...

Cheers, yes, early days, but these cameras are easy to use. Not quite as good as my D700, but not far behind in the IQ.

Tintin124 said:
Excellent shots and you are obviously very good ato finding them.. seems they respect you as you do them :D would love you to show me them but know they are your little secret :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, i wouldnt say "my little secret"...But yeah, i can show you...as long as you dont mind being blindfolded, and dumped in the back of a speeding van, an taken on a "hell ride" first?! ;)

WingTsun said:
Brilliant, very nice set! My Venus 60mm probably wouldn't be the right lens for these with a 5cm working distance. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, Hmmmmm 5cm working distance, with a manual focus lens?! errrrrrrrrrrrr that would be pushing it some!

GreenNinja67 said:
Sooner you than me.

My major phobia
Click to expand...

Whilst, i enjoy observing/photographing these beautiful snakes, if the truth was known, im a little scared of em too!

GardenersHelper said:
Good results from the new kit. Very good to have the equipment and shooting info too - makes for a good post IMO.
Click to expand...

Cheers Nick, Im going to take my Nikon D700 out with me next time, to do a side by side type of mini test, the results good be interesting.

Mark Johnson said:
Great shots... I would rather stay a little further away from them, but do find them fascinating.

Reminds me of a rhyme from the Volvo handbook, to be read when the children are bored and in a traffic jam (honestly)

Why could'nt the viper vipe her nose???

Because the adder adder hankerchief.

Ok OK I'm off..

:):):):olympus:
Click to expand...

Thanks...those crazy volvo driving Swedes..........wait a minute, Ive owned heaps of Volvos myself!

ChrisA said:
Very nice selection of pictures of the adder.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, i shot many more images, just need to sort through them all.

_chris_ said:
Well done for getting some great close ups ,I've never even seen an adder.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment.
 
I've recently found a potential adder spot less than an hour away from me. I'm not sure when I'll get opportunity to go, but are there specific times of year when it's best (or more importantly best to avoid)? I think it will be the 400mm I take with me, and perhaps an extender :p

Always love looking at your images. How are you finding the new Nikon? I did consider getting one a while ago before canon came out with their own mirrorless option. The canon got a (pehaps deserved) slating for their first attempt. Most were comparing it to the more expensive fujis and sonys, without realising they were only really trying to compete with the Nikon.
 
Excellent shots well done I know how tricky it is finding them and getting close
I have seen adders while out dragonfly hunting in the summer but they didn't hang around for long
I was surprised to find them at an upland fen a wet and boggy area , I thought that they would be in dry warm places?
 
LCPete said:
Excellent shots well done I know how tricky it is finding them and getting close
I have seen adders while out dragonfly hunting in the summer but they didn't hang around for long
I was surprised to find them at an upland fen a wet and boggy area , I thought that they would be in dry warm places?
Click to expand...

That's what I'd have expected too, but they might have been hunting for amphibians?
 
MartynK said:
That's what I'd have expected too, but they might have been hunting for amphibians?
Click to expand...
Yes you have a good point there I have seen quite a few frogs in the same area
 
GardenersHelper said:
Side by side. Oooh, yes. Interesting indeed. :)
Click to expand...

Well Nick, you know me!...so it wont be very scientific, just basic info. on how i would use both cameras, with the same lens, at the same time/light/subjects etc.

Neil Burnell said:
Awesome , think I'd need a long zoom lens to photograph these as I wouldn't go anywhere near them!
Click to expand...

Cheers, nothing wrong with using a long zoom lens for these, thats how i started out.

TimmyG said:
I've recently found a potential adder spot less than an hour away from me. I'm not sure when I'll get opportunity to go, but are there specific times of year when it's best (or more importantly best to avoid)? I think it will be the 400mm I take with me, and perhaps an extender :p

Always love looking at your images. How are you finding the new Nikon? I did consider getting one a while ago before canon came out with their own mirrorless option. The canon got a (pehaps deserved) slating for their first attempt. Most were comparing it to the more expensive fujis and sonys, without realising they were only really trying to compete with the Nikon.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply Tim, the best time of the year to sight these snakes is right now, before they shed/slough their winter/hibernation skin!...A couple of reasons being - There isnt that much fresh vegetation grown this time of the year, so you stand more of a chance of spotting one. Also, since these snakes have not long emerged from hibernation, and the fact that it isnt too warm right now with the temps, gives you a better chance of seeing a basking reptile, here in the UK. Once it hots up later in the year, then these snakes will be much more active/alert, when they will almost certainly have mating/feeding on their agenda.

Thanks for the comment, Im finding using both my Nikon V1/J1's to be rather good for both Reptiles and Butterflies, but im not so sure these cameras will work so well at true macro? I think to use these little cameras for true macro, i will need to get either the Raynox 202 or perhaps the 505 macro lens.
I did look at the Canon mirrorless briefly, but since i had Nikon FX lenses, it really was a no-brainer...I actually got the Nikon V1 for "birding", which it does quite well. Because my Nikon 300mm f/4D lens(when attached to the V1, via the FT1 adapter) becomes a "poor mans super zoom", with the equiv. being 810mm, when accounting for the V1's 2.7 crop factor.


LCPete said:
Excellent shots well done I know how tricky it is finding them and getting close
I have seen adders while out dragonfly hunting in the summer but they didn't hang around for long
I was surprised to find them at an upland fen a wet and boggy area , I thought that they would be in dry warm places?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment, in the height of Summer, the snakes are able to warm up rapidly, hence the reason why you wouldnt be able to get close to them. They are very active in Summer, hunting for food etc, so it can prove difficult to capture any images. Unless, its a basking female(which has mated) then you might get lucky with her? If its too hot, the snakes will seek shade, they will be hidden, out of the direct sunlight.

I only observe "my" colony of snakes, in a woodland habitat, where their main diet would be small Mammals/Common Lizards, so i cant say whether Adders would prey on Frogs? I know Grass Snakes eat Frogs, so why not an Adder?...Adders have also been known to swim too, not that i have seen this for myself, but they swim, much like a Grass Snake. I would think that an Adder swimming, could be its last resort(survival)...not like the Grass Snake, who swims freely to capture its prey.


Another image of a different snake, this one being a younger/small male.

Cheers Paul.

Image is not cropped.
Young male Adder(Vipera berus). Uncropped. 22nd-March-2016. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top