Snow Adders!

Posted on April 7, 2013 By Matt Wilson

March has been awful. Truly awful. I decided that I could not stay in doors for another weekend and ventured over to Yorkshire to meet up with Carl and do some herping. It was still very cold, and upon collecting me from the station Carl drove us to a good spot to see Little owl (Athene noctua). These are one of my favourite birds, and during my trips to Greece they can be seen everyday, but they are far less frequently seen at home. Luckily enough one of the owls was sat in the wall of an old abandoned shed. After dark we decided to be brave and do a short amphibian search. It was absolutely freezing, we were ready to give up after ten minutes but then Carl spotted a male Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus). The following day, although still cold with an icy wind the sun was shining. Within 15 minutes we managed to find 15 male Adders (Vipera berus), many of which were basking next to patches of snow. A further two were found at a different site, and at a slightly higher altitude only one adder could be seen along with two brave Viviparous lizards (Zootoca vivipara). What was intended to be a short search at a possible new location for adders turned out to be an epic Bear Grylls quest (although we don’t kill and eat wildlife). We ended up clambering through deep snow and very dense trees and bushes to reach the bottom of a valley so we could cross the river to the other side. Despite our considerable efforts only a further two Common lizards could be seen at the site.