I have had a great day today, exploring the heathland of east hampshire with my 2 friends, we managed 4 adders, 1 in each of the locations we checked.
We witnessed some Adder behavior that was unusual, we were sitting having a break for food and drink when suddenly my friend called out adder, I am glad he was facing that direction as me and James had our back turned on it.
We both looked round and i was expecting to see one further away but this was a few feet away and moving very fast right in our direction, it probably was hunting or maybe searching for a mate, it was a male and had very nice markings, the base colour was a very light yellow and the zig zag was jet black, the contrast against the light yellow was very clear, we think it had recently shed.
When we saw it charging our way we got up rather quickly! I think if we sat there it probably would have slithered right past us, but we didn't really want to take any chances, as it was obviously very energetic to be speeding along like it was and it wasn't at all bothered by us, until we jumped up, then it dashed into a clump of heather, and it disappeared.
We couldn't figure out how because we saw it go into that clump and nothing came back out, there musts have been a hole or something it hid in. well its the first time i have observed such behavior in adders! and unknown to me at the time i was later to see another adder doing something i have never seen before.
After the charging adder we managed to spot common lizards and sand lizards and then checked a new area just across the road, where we saw more common lizards and a juvenile adder, possibly female.
Then we moved to our final location and just after the main entrance we saw our 3rd adder, right on the main path where a lady had just walked past with her dog! and it slithered right into a puddle!
I have never seen a snake in water before and i always guessed if i ever did see a swimming snake it would be a grass snake, not an adder! this was a male with a grey base colour,
He soon left the puddle when we got close to him to take photos and made its way to the base of a small tree where it stopped and let us take photos.
I am unsure if the puddle was just in its path and it couldn't be bothered to go around it, or if it was using the water to cool down a bit, as it was pretty hot today. i actually got a bit of a tan!
Not long after that we encountered a rather sprightly Grass snake, we must ahve walked right past it then james heared a noise and looked round, and saw this grassie making its escape, both me and my other friend mark tried to capture it for a closer look and photos but he was fast and managed to evade us, it was about 3 foot long.
Then we got to the area where there are tins (refugia) this is the place i saw my first ever smooth snake and i am getting worried because we have not found one there now for quite a while, i was hoping today our luck would change, if could have got a smooth snake and a slow worm we would have managed all 6 natve reptiles in one day, which is a challenge i like to do, I have done it once a few years ago, plus seeing the non native wall and green lizards to!
But alas there was no smooth snake, or slow worms, there was nothing under any of the tins, it could be that it was so warm that they were out basking or under shade because the tins were pretty warm, we did see more common lizards though.
On the way back, fairly near to where we saw the grass snake our 4th and final adder of the day was spotted, a nice female.
We also some cool metallic green and beetle which i have now identified as a green tiger beetle, in fact they was a pair mating, I didn't notice this until i got home and uploaded the photos!
All in all it was a awesome day and although i have seen adders many times, and each time is always a great thrill, but i confess that i probably don't remember every encounter with an adder I have had, but today's encounters will stay with me the rest of my life!
here are some pics of the bathing adder, in the puddle and when it was hiding in the tree.
which is why they become far less sedentary and cryptic. doesn't last long though.
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