Venomous Adder, Common European Viper, Vipera berus A visit to the dramatic sea cliffs of Porthgwarra, one of Cornwall’s best seawatching and bird migration places, produced a real mix of wildlife. Out at sea hundreds of Manx Shearwaters and Auks … Read More
Flowering Blackthorn, active overwintered butterflies and migrant birds such as House Martins and Wheatear have all been recorded in the last few days. And if this wasn’t a sign Spring is here then basking Adders certainly are! For me they … Read More
Bright sunshine and strong north westerlies provided great sea watching conditions at Trevose head last week. Manx Shearwaters and Auks were plentiful while on land there were migrant Wheatears. And so what was our most noteworthy sighting ? A Common … Read More
As the sun broke through reptiles emerged to warm up beside the south west coast path. We passed two boldly marked male adders, Vipera berusand, and one Common Lizard, Zootoca vivipara, out in the open soaking up the sun. I … Read More
During a trip to Porthcurno Beach, Cornwall last week the sun actually did come out! In fact it shone for most of the time and to prove it this adder was seen sunning itself beside the coastal path. Despite the … Read More
This juvenile newt was discovered when weeding the flower bed. But which of the three British newts is it? Having excluded the Great Crested Newt because of its rarity status in Cornwall and darker colouration, it was down to trying … Read More
The Common Lizard, like this one seen at Windmill Farm on the appropriately named Lizard Peninsular last week, are the only lizards likely to be seen in Cornwall. However, we bumped into a chap the other day who said he’d … Read More
This large male adder was seen basking in the sun beside the boardwalks on the Windmill Farm Nature Reserve on the Lizard peninsular in Cornwall. Compared with April last year, when we seemed to be tripping over them wherever we … Read More
The Common Lizard, also known as the Viviparous Lizard, is the only lizard likely to be seen in Cornwall although there are attempts being made to introduce the Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis) to the county. This one was sunning itself … Read More
It’s not just the sunshine of this Indian Summer that makes it feel like spring as Adders, the only venomous snake in the British Isles, are once more out in the open sunbathing. We came across several at Windmill Farm … Read More
Welcome in the vegetable patch anytime since the Common Toad eats slugs and other pests. Insight into Common Toad (Bufo bufo): widespread throughout the British Isles but not found in Ireland, this amphibian has an excellent defense strategy against being … Read More
We’ve met several people recently who have always lived in Cornwall but tell us they haven’t seen an Adder before, until this spring! There do seem to be many Adders around at the moment. This female was basking in the … Read More