Lee Brady's Recording Blog

KRAG Reptile HSI Project

KRAG is helping to develop a reptile habitat suitability Index. This new HSI will attempt to provide a broad assessment of habitats for the four widespread reptile species. Whilst piloting the project, we are focussing on adder with our Interreg project partners (KWT and Conservatoire d'espaces naturels). Three members of KRAG (myself included) have just returned from an exchange visit to northern France where we had the opportunity to talk with French volunteers about surveying for reptiles, review several adder sites and visit a sand dune nature reserve that had several stunning amphibian ponds.

We saw several species during the three day venture including viviparous lizard, slow-worm and adder. During our nocturnal field trip to the sand dune ponds we help to catch parsley frogs for a DNA research project. After the parsley frogs were mouth swabbed they were released unharmed back into their pond. Other amphibians encountered included common frog, common toad, natterjack toad, spadefoot toad, European treefrog, smooth newt, palmate newt, great crested newt and alpine newt. Not a bad haul! 

Here's a few photos from the trip.

 

Mike Phillips discussing HSI data collection with KRAG's Rick Hodges and our French partners

 

Collecting HSI data at a heathland site

 

Measuring angle of slope at a chalk grassland site

 

European Treefrog (Hyla arborea)

 

Spadefoot Toad (Pelobates fuscus)

 

 

 

 

 

Bee Orchid

Had a great day out with Christian Randriantoandro at Quilters Wood on Saturday. Christian is one of my Malagasy colleagues who works with Madagasikara Voakajy and was excited to see several young adder. It was also very pleasing to be able to show Christian an orchid in Britain (actually several orchids)! 

 

Lesser Stag Beetles

Yesterday's work related trip to Lambeth resulted in a large quantity of dead wood being collected from a site earmarked for development.

 

The logs were delivered to a Kent nature reserve where they will be used to create stag beetle habitat piles. More information on stag beetles is available from The People's Trust for Endangered Species. During the removal of the wood several beetles were found. These turned out to be Lesser Stag Beetles. They might not be as large as their more famous relative, but they are still impressive insects none the less.

 

Neonate Slow-worms at Vinters Valley

On Saturday the family visited Vinters Valley LNR and we were thrilled to find a female slow-worm giving birth. Kyle was particularly impressed!

    

 
 

1000 Photos!

Finally caught up with three weeks of work/KRAG related emails etc (well, very nearly anyway)!

Now comes the task of going through the 1000+ photos that I took in Madagascar. I hope to get a fully illustrated write-up of my trip completed by the weekend.

Starfish

The bodies of starfish washed up several weeks ago are still evident.

UPDATE:

No sand lizards seen at Sandwich (didn't really expect to see any), but we did watch a viviparous lizard basking on a concrete fence post.

BTW Photos uploaded from the iPhone are too large when posted on the blog. There is probably a way to reduce the size using the TypePad iPhone software, but I haven't found it yet! Images from our trip to Sandwich have been reduced on my Mac.

Sandwich

I read with interest Bill's article on the sand lizard introduction at Sandwich. So today I'm out with the family to investigate the dunes. I'm actually posting from the beach! Very pleasant it is too!!

First 2008 Adder Record for Kent?

Kent has had a few spring like days recently. I was up on the downs at Trosley in the middle of last week with Bill Whitaker and Diasy Truckle and was getting positively hot in the bright sunshine, but despite it being a good reptile site we found nothing. Anyhow, we did at least arrange the refuges for this year’s monitoring. Daisy will be including reptiles when she does her butterfly survey.

But better luck today. I was on the downs behind Otford with Richard Jones and on a south facing, and very sunny, slope there was large male adder. This was basking on a grassland/woodland margin and made off into the woods at speed; but not before I managed to get a photo. You will see that it has the typical muddy appearance of an adder that has just emerged from hibernation.

Adders also look a bit like this before they are about to slough but such adders can be told apart as they have milky rather than clear bright eyes. If the weather turns cold again then this adder would be expected to recommence hibernation.

Rick Hodges

KRAG Field Day Weardale/Chartwell 28/4/07

On a warm and breezy morning of 28 April, a truly international group of fifteen, with representatives from Spain, France, Greece and New Zealand, toured Weardale (on the green sands ridge overlooking the Weald). Then, after a pub lunch, a rather smaller group toured Chartwell. We were led by the National Trust warden Paul Naden and KRAG member Nick Johnson. Here is Paul Naden in Toy’s Hill car park briefing the Group about Weardale and Chartwell.

Weardale

We split into two groups to survey refugia that had been laid two months previously. After passing various points of interest including a disused water tower, which has been developed as a bat hibernaculum, we came across swarms of curious small moths with very long antennae, these were lekking Bright Moths.

As we walked around Weardale we checked pairs of tin and felt refugia but these didn’t reveal anything; perhaps they had been placed too recently. However, there were excellent sightings of several viviparous lizards basking on the low walls of the ruined Weardale Manor (photo by A. Milopoulos).

From Weardale we crossed the road into Scords Wood and in a patch of heathland we saw another viviparous lizard and an obliging slow worm. Continuing into the woodland, there was an abundance of bluebells and other wild flowers. These were particularly evident as we entered a clearing in the woodland created by the National Trust to encourage wider biodiversity (photo by A. Milopoulos).

After walking deeper into Scords Wood we arrived at a large pond, used to supply water to Emmetts Garden in times of drought, surrounded by a cleared hillside. The area is well known for grass snakes, but despite our checking none were seen (photo by A. Milopoulos).

Finally, continuing round the last stretch of woodland there were excellent views of another very photogenic viviparous lizard (Photo G. Marchais).

Chartwell

Six people toured Chartwell in the afternoon. At Toy’s Hill they all piled in to Paul’s Land Rover and took the roller coaster ride to Chartwell. Although we didn’t find much under the refuges laid around the estate, due at least in part to the rather warm weather, we did see a couple of young grass snakes, a slow worm and an adder (Photo G. Marchais).

We also had a great view of the house and a walk round the old swimming pool which has been largely reclaimed by nature, including great crested newts.

Weardale and Chartwell provided a great day’s walking, beautiful scenic views and sitings of all our widespread reptile species. Roll on 2008 when we can do it all over again!

Alex Molouplos and Rick Hodges

Where's Rick?

Rick has been posting reports from his visits to Mabira Forest in Uganda. I thought folks might like to know exactly where this herp paradise can be found.

If you use Google Earth (what, you don't?! Go download it here - its free!!), you can download, unzip and open the following file and fly right there...!

Mabira Forest Reserve.kmz

You should find yourself looking at the following view:

More information on Mabira Forest can be found at the Birdlife International website.