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1st mating ball of 2008

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Robert V View Drop Down
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    Posted: 03 Apr 2008 at 11:34am

Hi guys,

Spotted first mating ball fo the year today, 10am 14 deg C full sun, five members taking part at Holyfield Lake. Also viv looking very hungry by the folds in its skin

RobV
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Robert V View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robert V Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Apr 2008 at 11:39am
heres the hungry liz
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arvensis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Apr 2008 at 5:43pm
Its a bit on the early side isn't it??  A Grassie is the only reptile I haven't seen this year but I never do have much luck with finding them.

Mark
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Robert V View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robert V Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Apr 2008 at 3:57am

Mark hi,

Well, I'm hoping that the sudden turn to cold again hasn't killed the group in the photo. I mean thursday, tee shirt weather, then snow on the sunday, its mad. This has been the strangest March/April that I can remember.

Rob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AGILIS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Apr 2008 at 3:42am
Great pics Rob all I can see at moment is sloworms more than usual  weird Keith
   LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID
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Robert V View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robert V Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Apr 2008 at 3:56pm

hey Keith,

thanks mate. You know what? I saw another pair of grasssies mating today and it was bloody freezing in the wind. Amazing and weird indeed. It was that cold that my lens became very stiff in manual op - no exageration. Slow worms are worth seeing though, I haven't caught sight of one of those this year.

Rob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Apr 2008 at 4:04pm

Rob,

What sort of terrain do you see all these grassies in? I rarely see grass snakes except under tins.

Suz
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robert V Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Apr 2008 at 1:31pm

Suz,

Its difficult to quantify really. Like you said in another post somewhere about the new forest, they turn up in the most surprising of places, but if I had to point to one common feature in all, its mainly where its difficult to get to. Somewhere where the average dog walker is not going to go - and lets face it, theres not many of those places is there. i remember I was waliking through EF once and was going through heavy wooded area just so that I could get to another more open site at Connaught Waters, when I saw a solitary fallen log in a sun trap between trees covered in old bracken and moss and some grass and a single holly bush and a rabbits burrow beneath the log. As I went to walk past it, there were eight grass snakes in a ball!

How they all got there and found each other is anyones guess ( I suupose their scent does carry a bit! lol), so get off the beaten track and mind your shins, those bloody brambles are murder!

Rob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Apr 2008 at 1:45pm
Yes off the beaten track. When my brother is here we are all over the place looking for snakes but we still don't have much luck with grass snakes. Hope this is a better year for us.
Suz
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Robert V View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robert V Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Apr 2008 at 2:49pm

 

Suz,

if you see one slide off, remember where you saw it, walk off and keep searching, but then come back to the exact same place in an hour or two, but creep in from a different direction. Try and keep the breeze so it comes over the place where you saw it before it blows to you. As you probably know they have an amazing sense of smell, but you can fool them.

I get scratched up a lot and I don't get close up shots, but, I get near enough to see whats going on.

RobV
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