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Portland Dorset: |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67  View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 27 Mar 2008 Has anyone got any knowledge of likely adder spots on Portland (Dorset). The last two I've seen were both during the month of September and were on paths basking in the afternoon. Several friends of mine have seen a few during the summer months. I've asked a few people on the Island and have a couple ideas as to where the dens are. Is it possible that due to the wind and cooler air temperatures near the sea that the snakes don't start appearing until quite late. I've not seen any so far this year. I'd be grateful of any information/local knowledge.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181  View other posts by Vicar |
Posted: 28 Mar 2008 Boris, I don't know Portland very well, but I have heard that it is not particularly good for native reptiles, although there are of course a lot of introduced wall lizards. There are also a lot of slow worms in the quarries. A friend has told me of spotting adders on the west side of the peninsular, close by the old admiralty research site. Best of luck ! Steve Langham - Chairman 
Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG). |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 31 Mar 2008 I went out on Portland yesterday and only found a small slow worm. These two adders were seen 1 year apart. The small brown one was seen in September 2006 and the larger green one was seen exactly one year later almost to the day. These adders were found 150 metres apart. I've seen a lizard and loads of slow worms in the same area. Sorry about the poor quality of the phone pictures. I now take my camera everywhere now that I've started to actively search for reptiles.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 31 Mar 2008 Still no adders. Found these today and yesterday......
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 31 Mar 2008 I think it's a year to today that I was at Portland. A cracking day weatherwise after a dismal cold spell I think. The day started brill within a few minutes of leaving the car we were looking at a quarry above the sea which was crawling with wall lizards. I thought this is great we'll see loads of stuff today. Funny thing after we left that quarry we never saw another reptile all day! We poked about in all the likely places and walked round both sides of the Bill - nowt! Suz |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 02 Apr 2008 Portland this afternoon....... I could only get a couple pictures of the adder because he heard me coming and was off like a shot. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 02 Apr 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 02 Apr 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Wolfgang Wuster Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 326 View other posts by Wolfgang Wuster |
Posted: 02 Apr 2008 [QUOTE=Boris the Berus] Portland this afternoon....... I could only get a couple pictures of the adder because he heard me coming and was off like a shot. [/QUOTE]To quote Lou Reed, "...he was a she..." Off to take a walk on the wild side, Wolfgang Wolfgang Wüster School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor http://sbsweb.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/ |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 02 Apr 2008 What are the tell tail (excuse the pun) signs to look for when trying to work out the sex of an adder? In particular what gives it away in these photos?
Thanks in advance. http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Wolfgang Wuster Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 326 View other posts by Wolfgang Wuster |
Posted: 04 Apr 2008 Females tend to: - be brown or reddish rather than grey, yellowish or whitish like males - have a less contrasting zigzag, often with slightly darker edges, whereas males usually have an all-black zigzag - have a less contrasting pattern on the head, without any black, whereas males often have properly black markings - lack dark markings on the rostral - males usually/often have darker markings - have a tail that becomes thinner immediately after the vent, whereas males tend to have a swollen tail base. Hope this helps. Cheers, Wolfgang Wolfgang Wüster School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor http://sbsweb.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/ |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 04 Apr 2008 The men in the family are off to Portland tomorrow looking for the wall lizards. Last year when I went at this time migrant birds were landing all round us, quite spectacular. As I said previously ALL we saw last year were wall lizards but maybe they'll see adders as well. We did see a pair of ospreys distantly as well, oh and a daytime hedgehog. Suz |
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Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar |
Posted: 04 Apr 2008 Hi Suzi, I'm interested in grid references of any Pm they do manage to see :P You can email me on my signature link. 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: 06 Apr 2008 The guys saw 7 or 8 wall lizards in the same little quarry that I saw them in last year more or less to the same date. Again like we did last year they walked the whole length of the east coast and never saw another reptile. How strange it seems that, by all accounts, they don't seem to have spread beyond the confines of this little quarry along this coast. There is another colony on the island I believe. Are they too very faithful to the one small area? Steve I will send you the Grid ref by PM tomorrow. Suz |
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Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar |
Posted: 06 Apr 2008 Thanks, They are further along the SE tip also, and reportedly at the North-west by the sculpture park, but on the sea cliffs...although I've not personally seen them there as yet. Steve Langham - Chairman
Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG). |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 07 Apr 2008 There's a couple of spots I visit on a daily basis. I regularly see slow worms and lizards in the same spots. Only a couple of adders so far. I'd be happy to show anyone interested and share information. I'm very much a beginner at this herpetology thing. http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 09 Apr 2008 Several slow worms, one common lizard and this male (Am I right this time Wolfgang?) berus today. Still very much a beginner.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Boris the Berus Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 No. of posts: 67 View other posts by Boris the Berus |
Posted: 09 Apr 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/38923974@N07/sets/ |
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Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar |
Posted: 09 Apr 2008 Very definitely a male...freshly sloughed too ! 
Steve Langham - Chairman
Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG). |
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Wolfgang Wuster Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 326 View other posts by Wolfgang Wuster |
Posted: 09 Apr 2008 LOL - Yup, that's a male! Cheers, WW Wolfgang Wüster School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor http://sbsweb.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/ |
- Portland Dorset |
