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Bumper Year in Lincs?: |
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-LAF Senior Member Joined: 03 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 317  View other posts by -LAF |
Posted: 24 Aug 2004 I don't know if it's an effect of the damp summer but... On the east coast we have had the best year for viv lizards and Natterjacks that I've seen for a long, long time. Viv lizards are present all along the coast between the wash and the humber although in some areas they're becoming patchy. When I was a teenager there were huge numbers on the dune side of the sea barriers between Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea. I haven't seen any here for at least 4 years now and the area now has much more houseing so I'm guessing that more concreting of sea defences, more people pressure and a higher number of cats has extracted it's toll. I was there for the weekend and found NO evidence of the whatsoever. :( However, on a protected site around 6 miles north I have NEVER seen so many juvenile viv lizards. I used to find them on secondary dunes around a mile onto the salt marsh but very high tides seemed to have wiped them out in 99. The landward side of the reserve always had some but you could never be sure of seeing them. On Sunday I saw literally dozens of Juveniles there. Considering gravid females tend to 'pop' between Mid July and early August on that coast they were remarkably well grown and were carrying plenty of body weight. At the same site, an area of wet dune that has been slowly drying out over the last 20 yrs (artificial slacks were tried a few years back but seem to have been abandoned) the vegetation is CRAWLING with baby natterjacks! And I mean crawling in the same way you might find common toads around fishing ponds. You had to walk on the sand only areas or you'd trample them. They were well grown and and carrying good body weight too. In the case of the natterjacks I guess the wet conditions have provided much better breeding pools than in previous years HOWEVER... The thing that struck me more than anything else this year was the quantity of invertebrates to be seen. HUGE densities of grasshoppers and spiders. I wonder if this super-abundance of food (worms too were far more frequent under debris) is the main reason for the breeding success of the herps there? Has anyone else noticed any similar phenomona? I'm not sure how many gravid snakes are around in Lincs yet as I didn't get to those sites but I'll try and get there shortly. My guess would be that it's been good for them too. Certainly shrew numbers are well up, also I guess due to the invertibrate explosion and water voles in that area are now an ubiquitous feature. Despite the apparent permanent loss of the first viv lizard colony I ever found the apparent successes elsewhere really cheered my weekend up! Lee. Lee Fairclough |
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Tony Phelps Forum Specialist Joined: 09 Mar 2003 No. of posts: 575 View other posts by Tony Phelps |
Posted: 24 Aug 2004 There are lots of juv common liz here too in Dorset, but they have been sighted since early to mid-June and are well grown, perhaps the Lincs ones were born earlier. Tony |
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Lisa Member Joined: 19 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 23 View other posts by Lisa |
Posted: 25 Aug 2004 Hi Lee, I certainly agree about the abundance of inverts. I think the mild weather has helped. My site in the Cambridgeshire fens is alive with grasshoppers this year and we have plenty of viv lizards too. They seem to be enjoying basking in between the downpours! :) Lisa |
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Danial Senior Member Joined: 01 May 2003 No. of posts: 100 View other posts by Danial |
Posted: 25 Aug 2004 There are lots of juvenile common lizards here in London, however a majority of the ones I saw today were new borns. Quite a few juvenile slow worms too. All the common lizards are quick to bask in between the downpours. Danial Consultant Ecologist and Amphibians Officer of Surrey Amphibian and Reptile Group www.surrey-arg.org.uk |
- Bumper Year in Lincs? |