Roving Records - Land East of the Railway Line: 18/09/13

My usual route

I was massively frustrated recently after misplacing the battery charger for my camera, then upon finding it and charging it up, the lens had jammed! The camera on my phone doesn't quite pick up the same fine detail and I swear the stress of an infuriating touch screen has knocked years off my life.

This took many attempts - my old camera would have got this in much finer detail

Plenty of European Garden Spiders (Araneus diadematus) were hanging about today and I got great views of a male courting the female and then mating. Frustratingly, my video came out blurry so I'm not bothering to post it. 

Picture of male and female after the event. Meeeh. 

Ok, melodrama over! Today was blustery but warm with lots of insect activity, so I took the opportunity to do a day's general wildlife recording. Walking through Upper Picketts Wood and towards Goat Meadow, the Great Spotted Woodpeckers were 'check-check'-ing and a group of raucous Jays were arguing (or perhaps just discussing something important).

Female Cranefly (Tipula paludosa) - the pointy bit on the end is the 

harmless ovipositer, used for laying eggs

Upon entering Goat Meadow it was Cranefly-City, with my every step sending them up in droves. I must confess here these things are not my favourite (particularly at night in my room) and are the one thing which makes my hairs stand on end. They do however provide a bounty of food for birds and other animals.

Speckled-Wood Butterfly basking in a sunny patch

Plenty of Speckled-Wood Butterflies were about too, making the most of the blackberries and the remaining flowers of Common Fleabane. I must have left it too late in the day to check the reptile refugia as nary a Grass Snake was to be found. A couple I lifted had recently-shed Grass Snake skins under them, which I was especially chuffed to find as I am collecting specimens for a classroom display.

Fragments of a sloughed Grass Snake skin - sadly not very intact

Off to the woodland strip ponds. The newt pond water level is exceedingly low and the Fat Duckweed now covers it entirely. Luckily, the invasive Australian Swamp Stonecrop plant (Crassula helmsii) higher up on the banks is finally dying off after treatment with Glyphosate. I will be keeping a close eye on it. 

Pond 4 is our newt pond; all of that green is Fat Duckweed

I found this Buzzard feather on the banks - another good find for the classroom collection.

The air was cooling down and the clouds had gathered in. Reaching the excitingly-named Pond 3, I poked around the muddy edges and was annoyed to see more pesky Aussie Stonecrop has come up...

(Crassula helmsii)These fine fleshy leaves will eventually form a dense mat, 

swamping out all other vegetation

I was looking around at some nearby deer tracks when I almost stepped on this large and groggy Grass Snake! She was possibly hanging around the pond for some juicy amphibians, but looked rather cold and was moving slowly.

My steel-toe boot wouldn't have done her much good

Round yellow eyes, a yellow neck-collar and disjointed black markings 
show this to be a Grass Snake

She kept very still so I took this short video and then moved slowly off, leaving her to get on with her day.

Carrying on into Horleyland Wood and along the power line ride, I saw a lone Comma Butterfly fluttering around the trees. A bright blue male Southern Hawker Dragonfly was also on the prowl, chasing smaller flies over the bracken. 

Power Line Ride

I finally reached Horleyland Wood Pond which is normally a hive of activity for insects and birds. This afternoon the wind had picked up and all was quiet. 

Well, except of course for the odd low budget aircraft passing by.

And the winner of today's most annoying plant is... Agrimony! (Agrimonia eupatoria) Its bristled seeds use hairy mammals (such as myself), to disperse it about the place. I feel so cheap...

Reptilian refuge

Britain's reptiles simply don't deserve the bad rep given by that larger and more aggressive species Homo sapiens. For sure there is something about the way a snake moves which can stir a primal fear inside us, but this is just a throw-back to a time long ago when it paid to be wary of a certain few venomous species. 

Young Grass Snake (Natrix natrix), probably a yearling - Photo by Natalie Kay. These guys are not 

venomous and are completely harmless (unless you happen to be a frog or newt).

 

The reason you don't often see reptiles out and about in the countryside is that they flee the scene before you stumble across them; snakes can find themselves on the menu of everything from Carrion Crows and birds of prey to Badgers, Foxes, Cats and even Hedgehogs! If they don't move out of the way that's because they are hoping you haven't spotted them. UK reptiles are extremely benign and our only venomous species, the Adder (Vipera berus), rarely bites. In the last century only 12 fatalities were reportedly due to Adders, which is much fewer than deaths caused by wasp stings, cows and stray golf balls (my new phobia!)

Grass Snake skin found under a refugia, Grassy Slope, North West Zone.
Apparently males slough their skin twice a year, females only once

We survey for reptiles at Gatwick by placing out roofing-felt mats or 'refugia', providing a safe place for these secretive and cold-blooded beings to hide away from predators while they warm up with the sun's heat. It is kind of like a solar charging mat or iPod docking station.

It feels like Christmas (in a good way) when I first lift up a mat...

Grass Snake trying its best to blend into its surroundings

Grass Snakes tend to be olive green in colour, have disconnected black stripe markings down the length of their bodies and a distinctive yellow collar at the base of their heads. We seem to have a healthy population here though I am sad to say that I have never seen an Adder at Gatwick... nor Common Lizard (Zootoca vivipara) or Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis) for that matter! As we are focusing our habitat management on as many different species as possible there is always the possibility of future appearances. In the meantime here are the other things which have been taking advantage of the refugia...

A young vole, not sure which species

 Glow Worm larvae (Lampyris noctiluca) in Ashley's Field

Rustic Wolf Spider (Trochosa ruricola)?

A tiny Common Toad (surely a risky business sharing refugia with Grass Snakes!)

Occasionally I am also lucky enough to be walking about the place and spot a Grass Snake out in the open...

Blending in with the grass, living up to the name. North West Zone

At home in the water - Land East of the Railway Line. I'm particularly proud of this photo - luckily it didn't see me and I was able to get this shot just before it about-turned!

Reptiles are protected for a reason; their numbers have suffered sharp declines in recent decades and their habitat is continually being removed and developed. If you are fortunate enough to come across one of these fascinating beasts please just let it do it's thing and enjoy that rare moment.

For more pics and info on Grass Snakes: http://www.arkive.org/grass-snake/natrix-natrix/