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Posts by Mick: |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184  View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 31 Jan 2006
Topic: Zootoca or Lacerta?
Generally?, yes. If i hear about the silly sounding version then i'm quite aware of what it really is, but for me the change just doesn't seem crucial, & if it ain't broke, then don't fix it!  |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 31 Jan 2006
Topic: 2006 is comino to life!
Ahhhhh, poor chappy,..or daft chappy? And Dan, gotta agree with ya there (not budgin' on Zootapioca though! Jon. Forgot ya location, but anyhow, that's the spirit!,..perfect little bundle of interesting details..Cheers!
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 15 Jun 2005
Topic: Predation - is it possible?
I'd expect so, yeh, although my bird knowledge is limited & so i usually ask a couple of my ornithological friends for guidance on birds. I know though that Magpies, probably Crow family birds & i think most birds of prey, like Buzzard's & Merlin's can all be threats to reptiles. |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 15 Jun 2005
Topic: When is a Lacerta a Zootoca?
No, i don't buy the need at all to mess with the name of such a widely distributed & clearly recognised lizard, whatever the ins'n'outs. I wouldn't exactly say, if it isn't broke, then don't fix it!, but i just don't see the major need for this palava. Zootoca,...Yuk!  With respect, personally, for the foreseeable future i'll be sticking with Viviparous, or rather my often shortened & fond term..Vivip'! That just sounds more the business for a reptile. I mean,..a Zoey! Naaaa, i don't wanna remember her! And any righteous, ignorant snobbery with not acknowledging anything merely because the name Viviparous is used, well...i won't lose any sleep over any smart Alec!, or Alectoca! Whether it's a Vivip', or a Zoey (Urrrrgh!) we'll pretty much all know the familiar fella in question. I won't be ignoring anything on Zootapioca, but to me, they're Vivip's! |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 15 Jun 2005
Topic: When is a Lacerta a Zootoca?
Like it!  |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 15 Jun 2005
Topic: Lizard feigning dead
Yeh, with respect, even though the woman reckoned "definately lizards", i'm at least sceptical on this as well. Either a poorly Vivip', or a dry newt! I'm with Gemma on this. |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 17 Jun 2005
Topic: Smoothie bloater
I presume ones like that are well matured ol' girls & each year among the females in my pond there's usually several very plump, egg laden female Smooths, but blimey, they're never THAT plump!! Be interesting to be kept informed if this poor ol' girl manages to get that lot out! She doesn't look quite right to me though, so i hope she'll survive & be okay. Looks like she could populate a lake! |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 07 Feb 2006
Topic: ReptilesonoRailways
[QUOTE=Iowarth] And, of course, in Merseyside the railways are the main corridors between various colonies of Sand lizard. [/QUOTE] Yep!, well pointed out. Found all that a detailed, great little read, Iowarth..Cheers! Certainly sounds like you're on the right tracks to me! Mick. |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 07 Feb 2006
Topic: 2006 is comino to life!
Here, in n-w Banbury, just been up the garden for a very brief look about with the torch. (11.20pm, rainy & with wind felt colder than the 7c-8c it was.) Pond situation about same as previously (several surfaced'n'alert lookin' male Common frogs & somewhere in there believe still small number of Smooth & Palmate newts), however, on land did spot a couple of male Smooth newts out. With a tad less wind & just a celcius, or two, more, they'd have been many more out -especially newts- in the fairly ideal damp, wet conditions. |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 07 Feb 2006
Topic: Juvenile Slow worms
For this & another thread you've enquired to, ambrose, would you mind me asking why you're so keen? |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 07 Feb 2006
Topic: Isles of Scily - herps?
Oh well, there might be Palmate's there then,...even better! Surprised there isn't apparently any snakes or lizards there though,..unless there are. |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 12 Feb 2006
Topic: 2006 is comino to life!
[QUOTE=mikebrown] No doubt due to the sudden change in the weather from prolonged cold to a much milder day (9 C.) of persistent rain.[/QUOTE] Yeh, Mike, i'd agree. My PC's local weather check (for where i am, here in Banbury) has only just dropped - right now at dusk - from 10c to 9c, & with it being fairly windless & damp i'm expecting a bit of garden herp' activity, including maybe a few more newts & possibly also frogs heading for my top of garden pond. (Unlike lucky JC i've no frogs in amplexus yet though - i don't think.) Reckon on present forecasts that this evening & possibly the next two evenings - if it remains just about mild enough - there might be quite a fair upsurge in amphibian activity. Well, my torch is at the ready! |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 12 Feb 2006
Topic: 2006 is comino to life!
Hmmmmm,..even more hopeful now as just after posting those last comments my local temp's just risen back to 10c! I'm suspecting it's not gonna drop very much until much later tonight. Promising! |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 12 Feb 2006
Topic: Rana T. Movements 2006 - So far....
As i've put in a thread on Reporting, conditions in many parts of the country might be almost ideal for a good amount of amphibian activity from now, sunday evening (10c & damp here in Banbury), & maybe for the next couple of evenings. We'll see, but it's lookin' a bit promising!  |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 12 Feb 2006
Topic: 2006 is comino to life!
Ignore date+time above. I'd messed about with my settings to try & achieve UK real time. Below IS monday morning, feb' 13th: At 2.30am(!) went out for look up my garden here in Banbury. It was damp & still almost 9c. From amongst a huge mound of overgrown rocks were occasional croaks from what seemed to be around 2 or 3 hidden Common frogs. As i'd earlier suspected might be the case, many newts - of all ages - were out in various places around the garden. For example, on one roughly 2sq' f't patch of that rocky mound were at least half a dozen of them. However, practically all land newts i spotted appeared stationary & up at the pond the small numbers of Smooth & Palmate (long introduced) newts already in there seemed fairly unchanged. Along with several calm & largely quiet surfaced male Common frogs in the pond was also, at last, one pair in amplexus (possibly same pair i'd actually first noticed yesterday evening at 6pm), or at least one pair which i could clearly see anyway, in front of pond corner bedragled reeds. Well, actually there was another visible pair, amongst pond weed, but as they didn't appear to look quite right i hand checked & found the clutched one to be fairly rigidly outstretched & not plump either, & then 'she' kind of grunt croaked a couple of times! So, appeared 'she' was a 'he', but alas the poor clutched fellas 'mistaken sex/release me' calls were - unusually - having no effect on the dopey, over eager gripper on his back! |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 10 Jun 2005
Topic: Grass snake feeding pictures
Nice pic's Ruth. Looks like you were in the right place at the right time. But, like Wolfgang, i was immediately concerned about that netting & you were very lucky the next day to rescue that entangled grass snake before a crow, other bird, hedgehog, or cat had a go at it. Netting of that sort is a death trap to some wildlife, but at least there was a happy outcome this time. My 5ft by 3ft garden pond has a very sturdy, large holed (2inch squares) piece of mesh over it, which i actually prized (strenuously!) from an old bed frame. Anyway, it does the trick perfectly, much to the possible annoyance of cats, large birds & herons. My frogs, toads & newts, plus - very rarely - a grass snake, have always been entirely safe from pesky predators beneath the mesh, which is supported about 6inches over the waters surface. And nothing like hedehogs have ever fallen in & drowned either. Trust me Ruth, get rid of that flimsy, deadly netting altogether & replace it with something sturdier & larger holed. And by the way, snakes are stone deaf, Ruth! They woudn't have heard your camera whirring but they might've been scared by your sudden movements, or your ground vibrations which snakes are very acutely sensitive of. Nor would they have eaten one another hadn't one let go of the fish. All the best with your future wildlife watching, Ruth. |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 10 Jun 2005
Topic: Particularly Bright Wall Lizard
I love wall lizards & also love hearing how well they're doing in all their british nooks & cranies. Beautiful pic's Davew. Bit surprised Vicar reckons it's bright compared to Ventnor ones though. On my one trip to IOW, about 7y'rs ago, to see the wall lizards around the clifff car park at Ventnor, the days weather was changable & not exactly ideal, but i still got to see several youngsters & sub adults & one clearly full grown adult. What immediately struck me about this one adult though, which soon disappeared, was its size & beautiful colouration. It SEEMED about the size of a full grown sand lizard & was mostly quite vividly green. I've since seen similarly vivid & beautiful ones like that at Winspit in Dorset & along a rocky wall within Cotswold Wildlife Park, & i'm aware of other sites where such vividly coloured examples exist (presumably italian sub sp.). I've not yet seen Bournemouth cliffs ones, or Shoreham ones, but soon i want to go & see a wild London colony in south east London, at kidbrooke..i think. My best UK wall lizard experience was at Gorey Castle in Jersey...plenty of them there!, albeit of the less colourful variety. |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 11 Jun 2005
Topic: Iom Mick, hi! my good fellow herperos!
Hi all! I suppose i should've introduced myself yesterday when i joined this great looking site..sorry. So anyway, i'm Mick, a 40y'r old (& feeling every bit of it!) amateur herpo' of far north oxfordshire. I don't profess to be any more than that..an amateur, i just love having a good ol' mooch about for herptiles, & i'm also in to grasshoppers, crickets (orthopterans) & most other native & european wildlife too, but primarily herptiles & orthoptera. For years i've kept diary records of my wildlife sightings & i've always eventually sent any important records on to the oxfordshire biological records centre (now TVERC), or the national bio' records centre. If i feel the need to inform a council, or a land owner of an important species in their back yard, then i'll do that, & i've helped with reintroducing viviparous lizards to a depletion rectified site before (donated 100 young..though i no longer breed vivip's), so.. i suppose i do my little bit by way of conservation. Generally however, i just mooch, record, watch, sometimes film, & enjoy! I prefer to stick with hardy, native & european species, especially ones here in my own back yard of oxfordshire, so a site like RAUK is brilliant! Further afield exotic stuff's all great, but that lot's got more than enough coverage, & oh, so often our own neck of the woods has hardly had a look in! So, RAUK's right up my street! Oh yeh,..& i've been a member of ASRA & the BHS before. Only recently discovered RAUK as i've only been on the net about 10months. Better late than never though! Anyway, that'll do me, i'll stop waffling, & as you can see i'm too thick to paragraph!....So, yeh, hi all!...i'm Mick. Nice to make your acquaintance. |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 11 Jun 2005
Topic: Iom Mick, hi! my good fellow herperos!
Cheers pals! Yep!..this seems a gem site alright! |
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Mick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 184 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 11 Jun 2005
Topic: Hello Everyone
Hi Alan! I only just joined yesterday too. Reckon we'll like it here...seems an excellent site! All the best, .. Mick. |
- Posts by Mick |
..I dunno. BUT actually...certainly do see both sides of the coin though. Much appreciate Gemma's help with tryna drive this increasingly interesting thread onwards & on the right track too, but of course i also understand Vicar's sentiments as well. 
) about the amount of Jon's frogs for a small pond...alot indeedy! So anyway, you were once a Banbarian, were ya? Still nice here!...Well,..i like it!