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slowies and vivs, stroud, glos: |
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337  View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 12 Sep 2010 hi folks, as per my usual sunday routine, i visited my parents today, where following a tasty sunday lunch (thanks mum) i had a quick look under the black rubber mat in her garden. YIPPEE!: 
since my herp-seeking appetite had merely been whetted and not satiated by this happy experience, i decided to look further before journeying home. next stop, stroud; 
south-facing slope (theres a shock!) adder, grassy, viv, toads found here. habitat pic; 
i didnt see any serp herps unfortunately but i saw around 15 lizards and 10 slow-worms in 45 minutes. so pretty pleased. the weather was showery but with light spells (to use Fish-speak!) i wasnt quick enough with the camera much of the time but heres a few i caught; hope you like them! 
heres a cheeky chap adopting the cartoon head-over-the-wall stance; 
helpfully, there were four tins laid out in the cemetery. and so........ 
another two; 
nice big male; 
same male with his sidekick; 
more lovely vivs. every adult specimen i saw had a regenerated or missing tail- a sure sign of heavy predator pressure ive read. shame.
and finally, a few of the flora for suze and other flower lovers like me' vetch. dont know this family much, species? 
bristly ox-tongue (picris echiodes); 
dark mullein (verbascum nigrum) in full and exquisite flower; 
more commonly found in damp places- hemp agrimony (eupatorium cannabinum). it has a very cannabis-like palmate leaf, hence the name; 
a favourite of mine and kevb; pignut (conopodium majus) VERY tasty! they were dug up in droves during ww2. 
field scabious (knautia arvensis) 
angelica (angelica sylvestris) - and hoverflies! 
also noted golden rod (solidago virguarea) and wych elm (ulmus glabra) among others unpictured here. happy herping! ben Diversity. |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572  View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 12 Sep 2010 hi ben some great shots, thanks. here are some from north staffs today including my first neo of the year. does the female still look preggers to you?
cheers tim
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337 View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 12 Sep 2010 hi tim, i dont know but i LOVED your last pic. thanks for sharing! ben Diversity. |
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dave fixx Senior Member Joined: 13 Mar 2007 No. of posts: 319  View other posts by dave fixx |
Posted: 12 Sep 2010 Ben and Tim, Thanks for keeping the site ticking over with your contributions makes popping back all the more worth while.I found 12 adders at llandegla the other day 4 of which were juviniles by far my best adder haul this year and I have a trip out tomorrow and tuesday so will add some pics later this week.Thanks again guys.  Dave Williams davewilliamsphotography.co.uk |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 13 Sep 2010 Cemetry- lovely! I know some graveyards/cemetries are being left unmowed in parts of the country due to cost issues. Sadly most people regard long grass as untidy and a disgrace. Sheep graze some, although that in itself can be as 'tidy' as mowing. Suz |
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337 View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 13 Sep 2010 thanks folks. i never cut my grass suze. the neighbours arent keen. tough. im not about to desertify my habitat. 
i think my garden looks natural and all the more beautiful for it. i think THEIR lawn looks awful. 
heres a couple more pix from sunday at Tombside; wild carrot (daucus carota) 
cheeky viv; 
golden rod (solidago virgaurea); 
wych elm (ulmus glabra); 
a good place to look in graveyards is down the sides of the memorials. vivs and slowies are sometimes tucked in between the stone and the grass. i often found them this way as a boy. especially on cooler days. nothing on this occasion though!; 
ben Diversity. |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 13 Sep 2010 Ah Ben I admire long grass in places other than my garden! It is used here as a toilet by local cats if I don't keep it lawn-like (and sometimes even then!). I have tried leaving strips for grassies to wriggle along to my compost heaps but had to mow them in the end. I still got grassies in the heaps and as you know I have a large number of slow worms in my heaps/garden. I have one patch of long grass about 8ft by 8ft which is liberally strewn with quarry tiles, lumps of wood plant pots and enamel tubs. It is a real mess but full of slow worms and frogs and newts. The cats avoid it because of all the obstacles - ha! I like lawns for other stuff - feeding thrushes and blackbirds, rooting badgers, hedgehogs etc. If I didn't live in a town with cats I would have more long grass but even so keep some lawn areas. Suz |
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kevinb Senior Member Joined: 18 Mar 2009 No. of posts: 61 View other posts by kevinb |
Posted: 13 Sep 2010 Hi Ben, looks like you had a good day out up there, wish I had popped up to join you. I will point out the Viv hibernation stone to you one day, where I took that pic. Not surprised at the lack of Adders there, I have had 7 viewings of an Adder there but I believe it to have been the same individual |
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kevinb Senior Member Joined: 18 Mar 2009 No. of posts: 61 View other posts by kevinb |
Posted: 15 Sep 2010 I take back my previous statement as I have just been back there and for the first time seen 2 Adders at this site. Unfortunately I did not have the camera with me. I had dropped the car at a garage several miles away for repair and then got a lift home, walked to my front door and realised that the house keys were attached to the car key  . A quick walk around the cemetery revealed 5 Slow worms, a dozen or so Lizards and the 2 Adders. |
- slowies and vivs, stroud, glos |
