Hello, some excellent advice already mentioned above. At the start of this week I attended a reptile training course just outside of Bournemouth. It was fantastic-a very well taught course. It went over all the basics and then on to survey techniques and habitat managemnet.
In the afternoon we had a visit to a reserve in Hurn which is leased by the HCT (Herpetological Conservation Trust). Its a SSSI site and has all 6 species present and in good numbers. We were lucky enough to see all 6 on an overcast and slightly windy day. A brilliant venue that has public access. Check out their website to see if it has a list of the reserves.
It was the first time I'd seen any of the snake species so was absolutely over the moon. I've got photos that are on film so I'll get them copied on to CD and will upload them soon.
Good luck in finding the
Adders, you're certainly in the right part of the country for it
Viewing reptiles does all depend on the weather including the weather leading up to your visit, but even on suboptimal days you still get surprising results!
All the best
I wonder if Wild Women was on the same course I was on?