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Reptiles on the Wirral: |
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Dava Member Joined: 29 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 10  View other posts by Dava |
Posted: 14 Mar 2011 Hello everyone. It's been nearly a year since I last posted on here when I was researching whether the Wirral, and more specifically Caldy Hill held any population of Adders. I have spent many a morning walking Caldy Hill in search of these elusive critters with little success. This morning I got up and found that the weather outside was very mild and sunny so I hopped in the car and pottered up to Caldy. I wandered the hill for a good hour or so seeing nothing other than a few dog walkers. As I was returning to car I stopped by a dry stone wall and then something caught my attention: Not an Adder but a Lizard. This is the first time I had ever seen a lizard in this country so I was obviously quite excited. I starting taking photos on my phone and quickly realised that there were at least five lizards in the grass at the base of the wall. Some of them were quite large with a forked tongue that flicked in and out. Excited by this find I went down to the local ranger station to inform them of the population. - They seemed very interested to learn that they were there although they were aware of another population nearby. I spent a while taking to the ranger and he revealed that there are indeed isolated populations of Adders on the Wirral. He himself has seen them not far from Caldy hill. He informed me that Adders were documented on Caldy Hill last year and the presence of lizards suggests that there is no reason why they shouldn't be there. What was suprising was two of the places where he says adders are most frequently seen on the Wirral - I won't say where they are - but needless to say they would be the last place I would have ever looked. So my quest for an Adder on Caldy hill continues but with my first Lizards seen today I know I'm getting closer. Here is a picture of one of the little fellas. Cheers Dave 14_161022_200767_10150156425101211_509311210_8370503_5218 808_n.jpg"> |
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Dava Member Joined: 29 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 10 View other posts by Dava |
Posted: 14 Mar 2011 Err, how do I post images? |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 14 Mar 2011 A guide to posting pictures can be found at: http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/forum_faqs.asp#Pictures Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Dava Member Joined: 29 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 10 View other posts by Dava |
Posted: 14 Mar 2011 [IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/25864883@N06/5526293633/[ /IMG] |
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Dava Member Joined: 29 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 10 View other posts by Dava |
Posted: 14 Mar 2011 I seem to be struggling with this concept. Here is a link to the picture I took - Common Lizard pic |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572  View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 14 Mar 2011 great stuff...well done for persevering. really looking forward to seeing how you get on with the adders. tim |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 14 Mar 2011 Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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dave fixx Senior Member Joined: 13 Mar 2007 No. of posts: 319  View other posts by dave fixx |
Posted: 15 Mar 2011 Well done Dave,first reptile spotted there,good luck finding the adders. 
Dave Williams davewilliamsphotography.co.uk |
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Robert V Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 No. of posts: 717 View other posts by Robert V |
Posted: 15 Mar 2011
Hi Dave, shame you told the ranger where the lizards were, they'll probably be sold next week!! RobV |
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Wolfgang Wuster Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 326 View other posts by Wolfgang Wuster |
Posted: 16 Mar 2011 [QUOTE=Robert V]
Hi Dave, shame you told the ranger where the lizards were, they'll probably be sold next week!! [/QUOTE]I doubt anyone would sell them, but they will probably remove the wall, raze all vegetation, and put up an interpretative sign to educate the public.... Wolfgang Wüster School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor http://sbsweb.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/ |
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Dava Member Joined: 29 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 10 View other posts by Dava |
Posted: 22 Mar 2011 Popped up to Caldy Hill again today. Temperatures were around 14 degrees when I got up there. Went to the same spot I went to previously and again found three lizards. One was basking on a stone. Unfortunately they were much more spritely than they were last time and all of them scampered off before I could take any photos. |
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Dava Member Joined: 29 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 10 View other posts by Dava |
Posted: 24 Mar 2011 Just took a little trip up to Caldy and photographed this guy - He looked like he'd lost his tail at some point and regrown it. n/photostream/">link |
- Reptiles on the Wirral |