I decided to go to my usual reptile area, but this time i took a different track. Halfway down this track, i couldnt really believe my eyes, there was this fantastic black adder basking in the strong sun. I fired off less than 6 shots, but that snake was having none of it, it took off fast into the undergrowth. Down the track i went, only to see a large Grass snake, which also took off fast. Then a few steps further, and about 25 feet to my left, on the ground in the thick woods, was a large Tawny owl. I dont know whether the owl had prey, or it might have an injury, or the woods were just too thick for it to take flight, but all it did was hop/jump and flutter its way deeper into the woods, until it took one last look my way, then it was gone. Needless to say, this all happened in seconds, and despite me trying to capture a photo, i failed!
Some photos of that day then, cheers.
The black Adder looks like a male to me, Greenie could confirm this?
Poor shot of the big Grass snake.
A male Common Blue.
Female Common Blue.
A large Beetle of sorts???( I have never seen one of these before) flew onto me, then dropped to the ground in front of me.
I also saw a very dark female adder(close to the black adder location) and i realize she is in shed/slough, but her markings/colouration appear darker than usual? She was extremely aggressive, and hissed, puffed up, and even thrashed her tail about too!!! I took a few shots of her, but kept my distance, because this snake was not to be messed with.
Here you see her twisting and stretching her whole body(especially her tail end).
Hi Paul, where about was the Tawny? In the last few months we have heard them calling from the woods behind our house (The part of Mereworth woods East of Seven Mile Lane), I could listen to their calls all night.
ReplyDeleteKieron
Hi Kieron, Probably different owl/owls to you mate, this location was Mereworth woods, but closer to the Airfield estate, or Kings Hill as it is known these days. cheers.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, probably different birds but in the same woods (We are in Offham), good to know that there are more than one pair in there.
ReplyDeletePaul ,
ReplyDeleteCan't see the tail of your melanistic Adder because of the leaf for a positive ID , but like you , would say probable male .
Do you send records of your sightings to KRAG - Kent Reptile and Amphibian Group ? I'm sure they would like info on your Black Adder .
Re. your 'large Beetle of sorts ???' , I would say from here that it is a Rhagium mordax , a member of the Cerambycidae/Longhorn Beetle family .
Like you have found , reptiles have become very 'twitchy' over the hot period .
Great shots all round .
What a great find Paul, very interesting :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Paul.
ReplyDeleteYou have certainly turned up some very interesting wildlife there, and got some brains working overtime. Nice photo's.
Greenie, cheers for that, it does look like a males tail to me too. I am aware of KRAG(only recently though) and although i havent sent them any details of my reptile sightings as yet, i probably should do. The 2 areas that i observe, have so far shown at least 12 different Adders to date.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Beetle ID too.
Warren, thanks mate, all i have to do now is photograph me a white/albino adder! chance would be a fine thing.
Ken, cheers mate, its great to find/photograph/document the oddities.