Adder habitat.
Even though the weather was less than perfect, we managed to find this gorgeous female adder. It looked more like Vipera aspis than the adders we get in Finland. Absolutely beautiful.
The site also had some nice orchids:
Fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea).
White fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea var. alba).
Common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).
The weather was getting worse, so we decided to visit a pond which has all three newt species (Lissotriton vulgaris, Lissotriton helveticus and Triturus cristatus). A few dips of the net and we had all three. We took voucher photos and carried on to the next site.
Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus).
Palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus). A lifer for me.
The weather was getting worse and worse, but we still visited a couple of other sites. Despite the rain, we found a couple of adders, tens of slow-worms and a surprise grass snake.
A huge thank you to Paul and Trevor. The hospitality of herpers towards each other is always impressive and Paul and Trevor spending a day taking me to their herping sites was highly appreciated. I certainly had a great day out (and got a lifer out of it).
Cheers.
Martti
shame the weather is so unpredictable...