Good weather for herping...

Today was perfect for finding reptiles. Overcast with sunny spells meant that reptiles would be out basking at every opportunity. I caught up with my first Grass Snake Natrix natrix of the year - two in fact! The first was a huge female near Black Hole Marsh at Seaton and the second was this stunning male near Whitestaunton:

Grass Snake Natrix natrix, male: R. Harris

Grass Snake Natrix natrix, male: R. Harris

Grass Snake Natrix natrix, male: R. Harris

Grass Snake Natrix natrix, male
showing head scales: R. Harris

I also found three Slow Worms Anguis fragilis and this lovely male Common or Viviparous Lizard Zootoca vivipara. It's not uncommon to find ticks on snakes and lizards and this one had two on the body, just above his right leg.

Common Lizard Zootoca vivipara, male: R. Harris

Common Lizard Zootoca vivipara, male: R. Harris

Hudwit Fever...

This is the reason Dave couldn't wait to get back. Unbelievably, after a 27 year gap since the last one, an adult Hudsonian Godwit (Hudwit) was found on Meare Heath scrape with a flock of Black-tailed Godwits! This is only the third time this species has been seen in the UK and was a major 'blocker' on most birder's lists. I was fortunate enough to see the first bird, also an adult, way back in 1981 when it graced a river bank at Countess Wear near Exeter in Devon and have seen them many times in Canada. As such, I didn't race out to see it although I did catch up with it at the end of this week and a cracking bird it is too.

Hudsonian Godwit, adult female: D. Helliar

Hudsonian Godwit, Meare Heath: D. Helliar

Hudsonian Godwit, Meare Heath: D. Helliar

And just a part of the crowd that have been flocking to see this rare American wader:

Hudwit twitchers: D. Helliar

And a short piece of video from me - taken in very windy conditions at distance so not my best work (even though it was on a tripod), but at least you can see what it is:

Hudsonian Godwit: R. Harris

Nice to see such a rare bird so close to home and congratulations to the finder Tom Raven - his heart beat must have gone through the roof when he realised what he had found.

Even closer to home - a few more butterflies seen by Dave this week:

Holly Blue: D. Helliar

Dingy Skipper: D. Helliar

Spring in West Cornwall...

Cornwall is a great place to visit at any time of the year but Spring can be particularly rewarding. Good birds, plants and insects can be found and if you are lucky with the weather the scenery can be simply stunning. Dave Helliar just got back from a week long trip and had a good one by anyone's standards...

Cape Cornwall: Dave Helliar

Choughs: D. Helliar

Porth Chapel, St Levan: D. Helliar

Common Lizard enjoying the Spring sunshine: D. Helliar

Cot Valley: Dave Helliar

Cot Valley: Dave Helliar

Glaucous Gull, Gwithian: D. Helliar

Glaucous Gull, Gwithian: D. Helliar

Glaucous Gull, Gwithian: D. Helliar

Towards Nanjizal: Dave Helliar

Nanjizal or Mill Bay: . Helliar

Nanjizal: Dave Helliar

Great White Egret, Marazion: Dave Helliar

Ring Ouzel, Kenidjack

Ring-billed Gull and a Med gull
Ryan's Field: Dave Helliar

Ring-billed Gull and a Med gull
Ryan's Field: Dave Helliar

Woodchat Shrike, Porthwarra: D. Helliar

Painted Lady: Dave Helliar

Small Copper: Dave Helliar

Wall: Dave Helliar

Dock Bug Coreus marginatus: D. Helliar

Dave also added an adult Purple Heron, summer plumaged Pacific Diver and Grasshopper Warbler to his tally for the week. What a great week...but he couldn't wait to come home...

Dragons among us...

The sun certainly got things moving a bit this weekend but activity was tempered by a very cold breeze which made finding things quite hard work. Nevertheless there were four 'firsts for the year' on offer in the form of Smooth Newt Lissotriton vulgaris, Palmate Newt Lissotriton helveticus, Slow Worm Anguis fragilis and Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis. Palmate newt was new for the garden and a great surprise.

Palmate Newt, male: R. Harris
Doesn't show on this photo but the tail has a fine
filament and the black webbed hind feet can just be made out.

Smooth Newt, male: R. Harris

Smooth Newt, male: R. Harris

Good to see some reptiles too. Out of the wind it felt very warm at times and it's always nice to see slow worms:

Slow Worm Anguis fragilis: R. Harris

My favourite without a doubt though are the Dorset Sand Lizards Lacerta agilis. At this time of the year they are in their magnificent breeding colours and the males are quite spectacular. Cool, sunny mornings will find them basking in sheltered spots in suitable habitat from which they are usually quite reluctant to move, making them much easier to observe and photograph than their common cousins. Unfortunately this reluctance to run for cover also makes them susceptible to unscrupulous collectors as well. One of their biggest threats (other than heath fires) comes from the danger posed by careless footfalls along sandy heathland tracks - their preferred egg laying sites. Man made sand strips are helping to address this issue but mortality rates are currently higher than they should be - there's a positive correlation between the number of lizard eggs destroyed and the number of walkers, mountain bikers, horse riders and photographers now using their habitat for recreational purposes.

Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis, male: Dave Helliar

Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis, male: Dave Helliar

Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis, male: Dave Helliar

Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis, male: R. Harris

Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis, male: R. Harris

Good numbers of these out enjoying the sunshine now too:

Green Tiger Beetle: D. Helliar

Green Tiger Beetle: R. Harris

More about reptiles can be found on my reptile page.

Pond Skaters...

The novelty of having a large, mature pond in the garden at my daily disposal will take some getting use to. Frogs and toads are normally present, I've had smooth newts, grass snakes slow worms and several species of dragon and damselflies here over the years. Whilst toad watching at the weekend I started looking at some of the smaller residents now out and about, including the humble Common Pond Skater Gerris lacustris or Water Strider as they are sometime known.

The front legs are modified and used to hold their prey, the middle pair are used to row them around the surface of the pond and the rear legs are used to steer like rudders. All of them are coated in fine waxy hairs that help to keep it balanced on the water's surface tension. They can really move too, scooting across the water surface at over a meter a second! To complete the line-up they have piercing mouth-parts which suck the nutrients out of their unfortunate prey. Quite formidable to have something like that bearing down on you! Would be great to find some of the other eight UK species here too.

Common Pondskater, Gerris lacustris: R. Harris

Looking forward to documenting all of the species present as the summer unfolds.

Toads...

It's funny but Common Toads Bufo bufo always seem to spawn a few weeks later than our native frogs, so it was no great surprise to find three large adults in the pond at Whitestaunton over the weekend. This week I would expect to see the strings of spawn appearing around the weed. The frog spawn from a few weeks back has now hatched into thousands of small tadpoles and smooth newts should be visible now too but I haven't caught up with one yet, plenty of time though.

Great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis: R. Harris

Common Toad, Bufo bufo: R. Harris

Common Toad, male showing the beautiful
copper coloured iris: R. Harris

Common Toad, Bufo bufo, female: R. Harris

Common Toad, Bufo bufo: R. Harris