Blacks back

[Paul Lambourne]

Finally I managed to get an afternoon off work that coincided with some reasonable weather.. I headed straight to my much neglected favorite berus site.. ten minutes from my house..

I lifted the first felt.. 40cmx 30cm.. this is the sight that greeted me..

The number of fragilis at this site is ridiculous.. if you stand still long enough they will gather under your feet.

Moving round the site I was very pleased to see my first berus of the year, a beautifully coloured male ( thanks daniel )

Good to see that males are out and looking healthy

Well pleased I went to a historical basking site for a lovely melanistic specimen seen over the last few years.. happily there amongst the stinging nettles I was reunited.. very glad that the terrible winter had not taken its toll..

I moved to another site, badly managed (priority given to habitat management for orchids not herps) and happily saw this very pale little fella,

I moved onto a great site near my house, the site has natrix, helveticus,vulgaris, cristatus, bufo, zootoca, temporaria and obviously fragilis..the pond was heaving with bufo.. breeding males everywhere.. sadly some of the males had drown a female in their breeding frenzy

Finally I visited a last berus site and saw this little stunner basking in a hedgerow..

Finally I feel like the season is off to a good start...

Cheers all

[Daniel Bohle]

oh, what happend to your females. did they used make up to look like males?

[Mario Schweiger]

oh, what happend to your females. did they used make up to look like males?

[Jürgen Gebhart]

Very nice Paul!
Especially the first pic, I think the most fragilis I found under a board was two!

Good to see that the dark devil is back!

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

Slow worm spaghetti is always cool! Love that pale adder too...

[Daniel Kane]

oh, what happend to your females. did they used make up to look like males?

I'm surprised that your males have still not sloughed - all Cumbrian ones I came across had done so by the 7th, and it's a county not renowned for its sun or warmth! Saying that though, I've seen male berus photos on Flickr (from Kent I think) which hadn't sloughed by the 15th as well. Perhaps, as discussed elsewhere, the southern snakes can afford to be fussy with their activity because they will have opportunities to make up for it later in the year, whereas the guys up north have to make the most of what they get! Interesting how the behaviour of the same species can be so plastic.

[Paul Lambourne]

Daniel B,

Thanks for the "gentle nudge" post amended accordingly. All I can say is I get punched in the head a lot at work ...

Paul

[Paul Lambourne]

Michael,

If a simple mistake makes people giggle forever, they really do need to get a life

Paul

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

you may appreciate the correction vs. people giggling about the wrong sex forever.

I feel sorry for you.

[Jeroen Speybroeck]