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First Sand Lizard of Year?: |
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SteveA Member Joined: 30 Aug 2007 No. of posts: 15  View other posts by SteveA |
Posted: 22 Feb 2009 Hello, Nice suprise on an otherwise uneventful day at work. male sand lizard enjoying some southdevon sunshine. He was suprisingly colourful. Would he have emerged with yellowgreen tint or has he been out for couples of day? (need to compress pic to send it, will try tomorrow) S |
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SteveA Member Joined: 30 Aug 2007 No. of posts: 15 View other posts by SteveA |
Posted: 23 Feb 2009 Not a fantastic pic (point and shoot on max zoom) ref question about flank colour I'd say in the flesh it was a brighter/ paler tone than reproduced here. S  |
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Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar |
Posted: 23 Feb 2009 First emergence I've heard of this year. They are quite dull when first emerged. I don't usually see them in the wild here in Surrey until mid-March, but I think the captive breeding programme animals emerge a little earlier. Steve Langham - Chairman 
Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG). |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 23 Feb 2009 I presume that at some stage Steve's lizard came from some introduced ones or their descendents as we didn't seem to have any native ones left. Suz |
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SteveA Member Joined: 30 Aug 2007 No. of posts: 15 View other posts by SteveA |
Posted: 03 Mar 2009 Hello Suzi, yes Sandies introduced (not a reintroduction as far as im aware) in early 90's, I think from dorset colony. project was kept fairly low key for first decade which i guess is why you hadnt heard of them. S |
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mikebrown Senior Member Joined: 30 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 95  View other posts by mikebrown |
Posted: 16 Mar 2009 Saw the first Sandie of the year on Merseyside yesterday afternoon - one of last year's hatchlings. At least one must have been able to feed up enough last autumn to survive the Winter! Mike Mike Brown Merseyside ARG |
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SteveA Member Joined: 30 Aug 2007 No. of posts: 15 View other posts by SteveA |
Posted: 17 Mar 2009
Another Male La out on sunday (rather drab this one) and a female out on monday. plus around 8 comon lizards, mostly males. S |
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kevinb Senior Member Joined: 18 Mar 2009 No. of posts: 61 View other posts by kevinb |
Posted: 30 Mar 2009 Not only is this my first Sand Lizard of the year but the first one I have ever seen We went to Studland bay on Saturday 28th March to look for Sand lizards and despite never having been there and not knowing where to stop and look,we had some success. We first stopped near Wareham and looked at a site there, the first bush we passed a large lizard rushed into before we could identify it,next we saw 2 Adders coiled together in the sun and then after hearing a rustle I turned just in time to see a lizards tail disappearing into a hole. It was getting late by the time we got to Studland and we walked around some heathland for an hour or so just seeing some common lizards and then finding some young newts under a log.We then went to a nearby beach and walking around the dunes soon spotted my first ever Sand Lizard, a female.
After taking several photos we headed back to the car and then spotted a male in the undergrowth
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David Bird Forum Specialist Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 515 View other posts by David Bird |
Posted: 30 Mar 2009 I would say that both lizards are male, the one on the first photo not really starting to green up yet. The amount of spotting and smaller ocelli on the sides indicate it is not a female. British Herpetological Society Librarian and member of B.H.S Conservation Committee. Self employed Herpetological Consultant and Field Worker. |
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Paul Ford Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2006 No. of posts: 124 View other posts by Paul Ford |
Posted: 30 Mar 2009 You did well then Kevin - I've been to Studland twice and not seen anything at all (except nudists Paul |
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Peter Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2008 No. of posts: 260 View other posts by Peter |
Posted: 30 Mar 2009 Well spotted Kevin. Both animals look like males to me.  
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kevinb Senior Member Joined: 18 Mar 2009 No. of posts: 61 View other posts by kevinb |
Posted: 31 Mar 2009 Thank you for the correction, I have no experience of Sand Lizards and so made an easy mistake when presented with an obviously well marked male and a drab brown other specimen. Also they are more chunky than Z.viv and I mistook that for being gravid although it is probably too early for that. |
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Peter Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2008 No. of posts: 260 View other posts by Peter |
Posted: 31 Mar 2009 Hi Kevin. That same drab male will be vivid green in a few weeks.
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SteveA Member Joined: 30 Aug 2007 No. of posts: 15 View other posts by SteveA |
Posted: 05 Jul 2009 As a follow on to early emergence, I observed 3 female L. agilis digging egg sites at three widly seperated points of site. sadly no time to see if they actually laid eggs (though 2 were to busy to notice i was there!), but hopefully be reporting hatchlings soon. S |
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SteveA Member Joined: 30 Aug 2007 No. of posts: 15 View other posts by SteveA |
Posted: 19 Jul 2009 Oops that post would be rather more interesting if I'd added the date of sighting! 26th May. At time of this post lots of hatchling common lizard but no sandies so far. S (sorry get a bit over excited when I've actually got something worth posting!) |
- First Sand Lizard of Year? |
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