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Posts by charlesm: |
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charlesm Member Joined: 27 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 5  View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 27 Feb 2006
Topic: Common lizard samples
Hi Aodan, I was very interested to read about your project as I grew up in Northern Ireland and am well aware of how little study has been done on the lizards there - I would be very keen to see the eventual results of your work. I now live in Edinburgh and am reptile coordinator for the Lothians Amphibian and Reptile Group. For what it's worth my impression is that the "common lizard" is pretty rare in the North but at the same time I'm also certain that it's massively under-recorded so a detailed study is long overdue. I have recently been made aware of a few sites where the lizard has never been officially recorded (identified mainly by well-trained family members!) and would be happy to e-mail you details of these sites if you're interested. As you are no doubt aware the Mourne mountains are very probably the lizard's stronghold in the region but I also know of coastal sites in the North and there are more than likely some inland sites which have never been identified. I'll be out surveying in Scotland this spring and will be happy to send on any sloughs I come across. Let me know if I can be of any help with site id etc. Good luck, Charlesm |
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charlesm Member Joined: 27 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 5 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 13 Jun 2006
Topic: Scottish Reptiles
Hi Dave - I'm the reptile coordinator for the Lothians Amphibian and reptile group and just for the record I've never seen grass snakes around here. I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility that there are a few in the South of Scotland but it does seem very unlikely they'd be as far north as Loch Garten. I know there are common lizards there and frankly I'd be surprised if there weren't some slowworms and adders too, but if there are grass snakes they are almost certainly introduced. The debate about Scottish grass snakes is an interesting one and it's been going on for almost two hundred years. There are pretty consistent rumours of grass snakes in the Borders and Dumfries and, even more intriguingly, of large black snakes on the Isle of Mull! Very little in the way of hard evidence though. As far as I know the northernmost populations are in Cumbria. There used to be some in the vicinity of Newcastle but I don't know if they still exist. Maybe someone could enlighten me? Either way these locations aren't too far from the Scottish border so it's not inconceivable that the odd natrix does manage to slither across Hadrain's Wall! The other interesting question is whether global warming will encourage grass snakes further North - as it appears to be doing with several other species - in which case they'd be very welcome indeed. |
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charlesm Member Joined: 27 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 5 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 14 Jun 2006
Topic: grass snakes swimming in the sea?
Hi all, this posting made me think of a new German field guide I bought recently ("Reptilien und Amphibien Europas" by Axel Kwet). In the chapter on the dice snake the author states "Can even be found in salt water in some areas (eg on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast), where it feeds on marine fish". Of the viperine snake he says that in Galicia it turns up "on small islands just off the Atlantic Coast." These species are so closely related to the grass snake I guess that if they can happily swim (and even feed!) in salt water, then, biologically at least,there's nothing to stop the grass snake doing the same. I know that Scottish adders frequently swim out to, or even between, small islands in the lochs, presumably in search of food or mates, although of course these lochs are freshwater. |
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charlesm Member Joined: 27 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 5 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 15 Jun 2006
Topic: grass snakes swimming in the sea?
That's quite a story Jon - much as I love adders I wouldn't necessarily want to come face to face with one while swimming! The stories I've heard concerning our Scottish adders have all been in freshwater lochs but I guess there's no reason why they wouldn't do the same in sea lochs or even off the coast. It's definitely an interesting phenomenon though. I wonder if your Essex grass snakes have learnt to exploit marine fish as a food resource like their Bulgarian cousins? The other question is, particularly in the case of adders, to what extent are the snakes just using the water to cool off on particularly hot days? |
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charlesm Member Joined: 27 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 5 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 21 Jul 2006
Topic: Windfarms
Does anyone have any knowledge of or thoughts on the impact of windfarm developments on reptile populations? |
- Posts by charlesm |