Some UK observations

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Some UK observations

Postby Neil Rowntree » Tue May 12, 2015 7:01 pm

Thought I'd share a couple of things from the last few weeks...

Firstly, a few reptiles from a quick outing in Surrey:
DSCF3065a.JPG
Vipera berus

Being able to watch this pair was a pleasure -
DSCF3072a.JPG
Lacera agilis female

DSCF3087a.JPG
Lacerta agilis male

DSCF3081a.JPG
Same male


Then whilst surveying a site near Swindon today I came across this deceased specimen, seems to be quite chequered compared to other grass snakes I've seen - you think maybe this is just because of its state of decomposition? or has anyone seen a 'chequered' one?
20150512_151001a.jpg

20150512_151025a.jpg

20150512_154901a.jpg


Your thoughts please!

To lift the mood again, here's a cute litte fella from today...
20150512_143611b.jpg
Natrix natrix


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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Mario Schweiger » Wed May 13, 2015 10:25 am

this checkered specimen looks very interesting. I'm sure this doesnt depend on drying or decomposition.
Grass snakes with this pattern are known from greek islands and a few sports from the Aegean Turkish coast.
Never seen such in central Europe.
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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Neil Rowntree » Thu May 14, 2015 6:45 pm

Yeah it's an interesting one. I hope to get back to the spot to see if there's any more around.

Don't suppose anyone has photographed a chequered specimen from any of their trips they could post?

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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Berislav Horvatic » Thu May 14, 2015 8:32 pm

Neil Rowntree wrote:Yeah it's an interesting one. I hope to get back to the spot to see if there's any more around.
Don't suppose anyone has photographed a chequered specimen from any of their trips they
could post?

Depends on what you mean by "chequered enough"... A genuine N. natrix schweizeri, or something like this:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2206&p=21472#p21472
Or maybe I misunderstood the point? Also possible - sorry if so.
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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Neil Rowntree » Thu May 14, 2015 9:14 pm

Not sure how I missed those pics earlier - Thanks for the link!

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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Neil Rowntree » Sun Sep 20, 2015 6:52 pm

Four months on and I eventually found a live 'chequered' N.natrix specimen:

20150915_164518 (1024x768).jpg

20150915_164437 (1024x768).jpg


On the subject of unusual patterns/colours, I also managed to find an orange A.fragilis - I hadn't seen one like this before:
20150901_135141_resized (768x1024).jpg

20150901_135206_resized (768x1024).jpg


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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Lee Brindley » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:01 pm

Thanks for posting those colour/pattern morphs Neil. Really interesting!
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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Niklas Ban » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:07 pm

Nice variations! The Natrix reminds me of the ones in my area. I posted earlier this year a picture of a big female with similar pattern.
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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Neil Rowntree » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:21 pm

Cheers Lee - just spotted your berus photo - good stuff.

Yeah Niklas - I saw those pics earlier, there were some interesting shots in that post.
I was hoping to find an adult with that same pattern to see if it remained as vivid but unfortunately the only other I found was the previous deceased one.
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Re: Some UK observations

Postby Kristian Munkholm » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:45 pm

Based on my experience primarily with Danish Natrix I would guess that pattern disappears as the snake reaches adulthood.

Nice slow worm :)
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