Now For The Amphibians

With above average February temperatures and some light rain, conditions were ideal last night for amphibians to start moving to their breeding ponds. With bucket, torch and camera I set off to roads surrounding a couple of upland reservoirs. At the first road, Common Toads Bufo bufo were on the move, this is an early date with Easter normally the peak time for toad movement. There were already a few road casualties so I scooped the living animals up and transfered them off the road. Up to the next reservoir a couple more toads but the main species were Palmate Newts Lissotriton helviticus of which I transfered about 40 off the road. 2 Common Frogs Rana temporaria made up a trio of amphibians.

 Male Common Toad © Carl Corbidge

 Male Palmate Newt © Carl Corbidge

 Female Palmate Newt © Carl Corbidge

 Part of the nights tally © Carl Corbidge

 Above and Below Common Frog © Carl Corbidge



Well it looks like the weather has turned again, which won't affect the amphibians too much, common frogs have already started spawning so there is no way back for them now. However the reptiles will have to ride out the weather until it improves again. Yesterday and Thursday there were a couple of windows of opportunity. I managed to get out Thursday afternoon, expecting adders I only saw 5 Viviparous Lizards, I think I may have been too late in the afternoon for snakes,  plus a big black cloud seemed to be following me around putting basking sites in the shade. Yesterday afternoon there was a brief respite in the weather and I managed 4 adders including a very large battle scarred male.

 Female Viviparous Lizard © Carl Corbidge

 Male Viviparous Lizard © Carl Corbidge

 Male Adder A © Carl Corbidge

 Male Adders B and C © Carl Corbidge

 Male Adder B © Carl Corbidge

Male Adder D © Carl Corbidge

First Male Adder of The Season

Today I met up with Matt Wilson to have a look for the first Adders of the year (although Matt had 2 yesterday). The weather forecast was poor and on arrival it was cloudy with a cool breeze. We had a quick look without success and so decided to have a look for some Roe Deer Matt had seen yesterday. No Roe Deer, but we flushed up 2 Woodcock Scolopax rusticola and saw 5 Crossbills Loxia curvirostra. After a couple of hours the sun came out briefly and along with it one brave male adder Vipera berus. As quick as the sun came out it went back in and that was it for the day.

Crossbill © Carl Corbidge

 Above and Below Male Adder © Carl Corbidge

Back to my side of the Pennines today and with a sunny start to the day I was at one of my Adder sites at 10am ish. I quickly found 2 including a regular blue male which scarpered as soon as my shadow crossed him, (but he was back out 10 mins later) another male was tucked well in. More surprising was a confiding male Viviparous Lizard Zootoca vivipara, in the same spot as a confiding male from last year. I found a further 3 male adders, the clouds then dropped and the temperature dropped considerably and the snakes gradually retired back into their hiding places.

 Viviparous Lizard  © Carl Corbidge

 Male no 1  © Carl Corbidge

  Male no 2  © Carl Corbidge

 Male no 3  © Carl Corbidge

The Adders Should Be Stirring Soon

The recent cold spell has probably put the emergence of Adders back a couple of weeks, but hopefully I will see one before the end of February. It will be interesting to see if Matt Wilson's Adders (a little further north) are out at the same time as the ones around my neck of the woods. I've also got a new site in South Yorkshire to have a look it (fingers crossed).
In the meantime i've been photographing birds at a feeding station, all pretty common ones but I was pleased to get some decent pics of a Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major, I also got a record shot of a Bank Vole Clethrionomys glareolus.

Black Headed Gull © Carl Corbidge

Blue Tit © Carl Corbidge

Chaffinch © Carl Corbidge

Coal Tit © Carl Corbidge

Bank Vole © Carl Corbidge

Great Tit © Carl Corbidge

Great Spotted Woodpecker Female © Carl Corbidge

Moorhen © Carl Corbidge

Reed Bunting Male © Carl Corbidge

Reed Bunting Female © Carl Corbidge

Robin © Carl Corbidge

Yellowhammer Male © Carl Corbidge

Yellowhammer Female © Carl Corbidge

 Male Crossbill © Carl Corbidge

The Buzzard below was hovering which is a feature of Rough Legged Buzzard but not entirelt sure if it is or not.

The Stoat and The Hare

Once again I attempted to go out and photograph Mountain Hares. I think the mild weather has resulted in them staying on the highest peaks. However on my drive out to the moors I'm managed to photograph something even better a lovely Stoat Mustela erminea. Like the Mountain Hare, Stoats can turn white in winter surposebly triggered by day length, this one had a little white on the muzzle. Mustelids are among my favourite group of mammals, with the smaller weasel the only other representative in my area, the other species having being wiped out by persecution years ago. After this I walked up to a rocky area of moorland edge, there were plenty of Red Grouse around and eventually I saw a Mountain Hare Lepidis timidus, unfortunately I flushed it and only got a blurred shot of it running off, however it too wasn't white but had the bluish colour of summer which is probably a better strategy in the generally snow free Peak District winters.

Mountain Hare © Carl Corbidge

Above and Below Stoat © Carl Corbidge

Winter Round Up so far Birds and Hares

Beggars can't be choosers and for a herpetologist in Northern England in winter that means looking at different wildlife. I've been trying to photograph Mountain Hares (without success) in fact i've only seen 2 road casualties, but i did take some distant shots of the bigger Brown Hare Lepus europaeus this week. I have also been doing a bit of birding. Having seen Black Wheatear in Spain, Black Eared Wheatear in Corfu and Northern Wheatear in the UK I decided I would make it 4 for the year and went to see the Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti at Bempton,  East Yorks and what a cracking little bird it was. Just as nice were 2 pairs of Stonechat Saxicola torquata up on my local moors whilst looking for Hares. My local park has also been good for Goosanders which i'm sure will be decimating the fish population but they have made good photographic subjects more frustrating was a Great Northern Diver Gavia immer. On boxing day I went to see a Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus roost with fellow herpetologist Matt Wilson and we were treated to about 20 of these majestic raptors along with a superb male Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus, plus a female and a Barn Owl Tyto alba.

Brown Hare © Carl Corbidge

Desert Wheatear © Carl Corbidge

Kestrel © Carl Corbidge

Tree Sparrow © Carl Corbidge

Buzzard © Carl Corbidge

Red Grouse © Carl Corbidge

Great Northern Diver © Carl Corbidge

Drake Goosander © Carl Corbidge

Female Goosander © Carl Corbidge

Marsh Harrier © Carl Corbidge

Marsh Harrier © Carl Corbidge

First Snow of the Winter in Mountain Hare Habitat

Stonechat © Carl Corbidge

Just seen a couple of these little beauties in a park a mile from where I live, Waxwings Bombycilla garrulus