RAUK - Archived Forum - Posts by tim hamlett:

dear all

i would also like to wish everybody a very happy christmas and new year.

as a new member, i also want to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has given help, advice and support to those requesting it over the past year. it can't be easy having new members asking the same questions over and over again, but i have to say that the patience, tolerance and diligence that i have witnessed over the first few months of my membership is a real credit to you all.

thanks again and keep up the great work for 2007

tim

hi neil

some great shots there. 

we have one hopeful male waiting patiently in our pond...

we've all got our fingers crossed for him

tim

three together this afternoon:

 tim

anyone know what made this?

tim

hi

i'm no expert but i'm sure i read somewhere that boas, pythons and their relatives, being the most primative snakes, have retained some of the anatomical features of thier ancestors. one of these is that most of them still have two functioning lungs. i have no idea whether this applies to anacondas or not, or even if it is true at all but i'm sure there is someone out there who will know for sure.

tim

about the article itself...it's a difficult one isn't it. on the one hand it's understandable that a story about a giant snake trying to kill and eat a boy would freak some people out, but on the other hand, had the story been written by a snake it would probably read something like:

anaconda brutally hacked to death by a maniacal hominid while trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch!

tim

james

i don't know about anyone else but when i tried the link it took me to somewhere in ireland...definitely no chance of you seeing any adders there!!!

you might want to have another go as i'm guessing the link was supposed to be to somewhere in north wales

cheers

tim

james

i don't know that exact area but i do know the general area fairly well. i know people who have seen adders around the area without looking for them...a friend saw one crossing a main rd just on the outskirts of pwllheli early one morning and another friend saw one as she was absent-mindedly looking out of her caravan window while washing up (again in the morning)!

i am in the same boat as you really, i.e. enthusiastic beginner, so i'm not the best person to give specific advice. however, i do know that there are a lot of reptiles in and around the area and there is a lot of suitable habitat. it therefore seems reasonable to me that there will be some suitable habitat around your campsite and that there is a good chance that adder will be there.

i know this isn't very specific, but if you put it together with all of the superb information and advice the experts on the site have already offered over the pasy few months, e.g. habitat, best times of day and year, best weather conditions etc, then, like me, you have a decent chance of seeing something this year. if not, i'm sure we'll have fun trying!

good luck

tim

hi mark

this probably sounds a bit sadistic but i would really enjoy seeing that picture!

cheers

tim

even more gross than i thought it would be...excellent!

the reason i asked was that i've been spending the odd hour or two this week looking around a local heathland site that is said to support common lizards and grass snakes. i've been looking for suitable basking sites but it occurred to me today that it was easily warm enough for small lizards to warm up quite quickly. there were also quite a lot of spiders about.

the conditions have been good but i haven't seen anything in four visits. it may be that i've not been looking in the right way. it is also open heathland and i've never looked for lizards in that habitat before and it takes a bit of getting used to.

thanks again for the piccy

tim

thanks gemma

if i could bother you for a little bit more advice. when i was a kid i used to go "creature hunting" all the time when on holiday in north wales. i used to find loads of newts and toads but only ever found lizards three times in what must have been seven or eight years. on each of these three occasions they were found around rocks with appropriate vegetation close by. since starting looking for reptiles again last year with the children we found lizards on four occasions, all around dry stone walls or scree or rocky outcrops.

i would like to get to know this local site as it is so close, but i am not  really familar with the habitat. when looking for basking areas i have been looking at elevated south-facing sites but none of them have what i would consider specific features like rocks, logs or brash piles. under these circumstances, ie an expanse of heather, gause and long grass, is there anything else to look out for? i know you've given advice to others on this general subject but if you could help i'd be really grateful.

cheers

tim

that's really helpful suzi...thanks very much. i think i just need to chill and be persistent and patient.

tim

thanks gemma. again that's a big help.

i can easily 'acquire' some large corrugated tin sheets which i can cut to appropriate size. sounds like it may be worth placing some around the common.

cheers again

tim

transferring it to the site has deformed it a bit, and there's obviously some refining to do but here's my effort.

tim

the rats under the staging in my greenhouse certainly aren't hibernating!!!

tim

hi

having read recent posts, e.g. about licenses and stuff and having just read the adder article in bbc wildlife magazine (which the children and i loved by the way), although i was aware that there were experts frequenting the forum, the degree of expertise is only just dawning on me!

this made me wonder whether there were any forum members involved in the piece on merseyside/lancashire natterjacks that was on nature's calender bbc 2 this evening.

tim

a couple of frogs and one clump of spawn in a small drainage ditch just outside the children's school in stoke-on-trent.

tim

several more clumps of spawn in temporary pools (some just a cm deep!) lots of white spots though...does this mean it is not viable for some reason?

tim

just got back from a woodland walk in shropshire. no spawn or activity anywhere but 1 toad, 1 frog and 1 very small newt (smooth i guess) all under logs.

tim

hi

so far the weather forecast for saturday looks decent (although this may well change). it is unlikely that the children and i will get more than one or two opportunities to check out cannock chase for herps this spring, with seeing our first adder and/or grass snake a priority really. given this, would it be advisable to use one of the opportunities up this weekend providing the weather is ok, or would it be better to wait a week or two?

also, although we are more than happy to go spotting without any specific help, if there is anyone out there who knows the area and, without giving too much away, could point us in the right direction, we would be most grateful.

cheers

tim