Toads near me :D

[badgerwatcher]

Sand lizards eh? I'll have to go in search. At the Bay, do you know?
My son found a dead lizard in our garden about a month ago, that had a very bright turquoise underside. Something disposed of it before I got a chance to see it. I disturbed a little hybernating lizard the other day with an orange belly. We get slow worms in my garden, and apparently lots of snakes, so I'm told, but haven't been here a year yet.
Oh, I stood and stared at the gull. It looked like a gull, and a bit fed up!
I love warblers like I love the Times crossword. I WILL solve them.
And snow buntings are amazing! I'm coming back as a snow bunting, it looks fun!

[yellowhammer]

The sandies are at Pegwell bay nature reserve, and there should be adults this year. They're ace, real heavy-duty lizards, much more robust than commons.

Sheppey is a funny place but in a good way. I was at a barbeque there once and as we sat in the garden two escapees from the minimum-security prison legged it over the hedge! A few years ago there were three different types of eagle floating about on the same day. I, of course, saw none of them The Isle of Grain is good too. Last summer I saw nine (NINE!) cuckoos lined up on a fence by the power station which was a bit special.

You've seen bearded tit like I've seen Cetti's warbler then - heard the song, seen a little brown job in the reeds, can't quite bring yourself to tick it properly. I work on the principle that if I ignore warblers for long enough they'll go away, but it would be a far worse place without them.

I really should go into east Kent a lot more than I have, but a strange and terrible loathing of Margate prevents me. It gives me The Fear

[badgerwatcher]

Are yes, Margate.....
I worked there for a while, but it's just a blur now.
Amazing kids in Sheerness. We've worked in schools there, and met fantastically creative children.
Going to Margate is like sitting under a datura tree. But you can do it! Me, I have nothing to prove.
Nine cuckoos! Wow! Must have been some sort of event!

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by yellowhammer

Sand lizards are ace, and they're out and about by all accounts, at least in Surrey. Where are you going to look for them?

By the way Badgerwatcher, sandies have been released in Kent at Sandwich if you're down that way.

And I don't do gulls - they're hard! Same with warblers, they all look the bleedin' same to me I'll stick with reptiles & amphibians ta - although I did find twite and snow buntings all by myself this winter so there may be hope for me yet

Frensham in Surrey which has a good population of them, according to British Wildlife more numerous than Common Lizard there.

[badgerwatcher]

So, having gone away and looked up my inadequate supply of books with any lizard info, what on earth was the lizard my son found dead in the garden?
Vivid turquoise belly. He said the colour was not decomposition but the lizard's colour.
I didn't see it as I was away from home for several days working, but he's 31, and he was puzzled too.

[badgerwatcher]

And are there just two types of lizard in this country? Common and Sand?
(Apart from slow-worms which I think I recognise.)

[yellowhammer]

There are 3 native species - common (or viviparous), sand and slow worm. There are also a couple of introduced species, wall- and green lizards.

Reptiles can change colour rapidly after death. When I was breeding rough green snakes any that died would change from bright grass green to sky blue within hours so it could well have been a common lizard. In life theye have very variable colours and the belly can be white, orange, yellow or reddish. The throat can often have a bluish tint too. Essentially, I'm not much help These are common lizards;





I'd say that what you found hibernating in your garden was probably a smooth newt. They look very lizard-like in their terrestrial phase and confuse a lot of people;



And here's a wall lizard, just because I like the photo

[badgerwatcher]

Great pictures, Ian, thank you. It was a common lizard I found sleepy in the flower bed. The flowerbeds are lined with some rubbish felt covered in gravel, as a weed deterrant I imagine, but of course it doesn't work, and the gravel rolls down to the road, but it makes it nice and warm in the folds for basking lizards, I imagine.
I expect the other was a common one too, then.