Followers

Sunday 26 March 2017

It all Adders Up To Spring.

Following my lucky find of the Black Adder on Friday I decided to head for one of my favourite Downland sites for Adders on Saturday. After parking the car I had already decided I was not going to be lucky as we were suffering from a strong Easterly wind that had a definite chill to it and the walk to the area where the Adders are found was not too pleasant. Therefore it was a very nice surprise to find an Adder basking under the first bush I came too. Nearby in the most reliable bush 2 males were curled up together in a very sunny spot. Fortunately the direction of the wind gave the snakes shelter from the worst of the wind. Following a long walk around the area a further 2 Adders were seen making a total of 5. With the wind blowing so much the snakes didn't feel my presence, I assume because the bushes were vibrating in the wind. 



Male Adders. (Hopefully friends)!!









Even the grass was curled up.


Today, Sunday, I walked around my butterfly patch to see if I could find any Speckled Wood. Unfortunately all I saw were the usual Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshell, Brimstones and Commas. However, one Comma I came across was ovapositing and as I watched her I saw her leave an egg behind on a Stinging Nettle. The egg was shining in the light until I moved closer when I lost it to view, not helped by the fact that I was also hoping to get a photo of the Comma laying more eggs. When the butterfly had moved away I hunted for the egg again and I spotted it again by going to where I had originally had the light shining off it. I then tried to photograph the egg by carefully holding the nettle with one hand and taking the picture on full magnification. Apart from a tingly thumb I was quite pleased with the result. A fabulous looking egg too.



Comma egg on Nettle.




4 comments:

  1. Great series of photos Bob. Very jealous with the Adders, still never seen a wild one.

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  2. Replies
    1. I'm sure you both have Adders somewhere nearby. Not always easy to find as they are very good at feeling our approach. Well worth searching out though.
      Marc, if you make it to Thursley this year for dragonflies this is a fantastic site for Adders.

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  3. Hello. Snakes are waking up in Finland too. Great photos.

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