whitestone wrote: ↑Sat Mar 08, 2025 8:42 pm Not really "wildlife" but an interesting article on "veteranization" https://www.noemamag.com/how-to-build-a ... -old-tree/, a different way to manage forests.

Thanks for sharing that Bob, very interesting. I would generally say less human input would be preferable, but that ship has long sailed and sadly this is necessary.

Just back from the Isle of Arran doing our annual Adder survey in Glen Rosa for the NTS. We are a small group from Fife (Fife Amphibian and Reptile Group) doing it out the goodness of our hearts in order to try to get a picture of how Adder populations are doing. Up until a couple of weeks ago Glen Rosa was seen as a safe place for Adders as it's been fenced off from deer and seeing the beginnings of native woodland regen plus they aren't getting persecuted by landowners so you can get a better picture of how the overall climate is affecting populations without any other influences. We do the survey every mid April as that's generally when they will emerge from their burrows for mating and fighting (much like us then....) Last year it was a bit chilly but we counted 30 over the area surveyed, in one day. So just a snapshot really but any data on adder numbers is valued.

This year was somewhat different....https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yp0pxqg56o

At first it looked like the fire had missed the area we surveyed, as per the second pic on the beeb article. However it was total devastation right up the glen on the east side of the river and including about half of our survey area. In the event we figured it would be worthwhile surveying it anyway to see if there were any live adders (or indeed anything) left. Kate the head ranger reckoned most of the dead ones would have been scavenged by buzzards etc but it would be worth a look anyway.

4 hours of trailing across ash and burnt vegetation followed. We counted 4 live adders and 40 dead ones. Worse was some 50 dead slow worms - these are very shy and we typically only see an odd (live) one. Various dead frogs, toads, lizards and small mammals were also seen...


A lone live female hiding under a burnt tussock. Doubtful if she will survive as adders don't move around much and there is nothing for her to eat. Another female was seen alive but with a crisped tail end...


Not so lucky. The wide open mouths were a bit distressing to see...

The other side of the glen revealed a few live ones (and lots of frogs and lizards) but we think the mating season would likely have been and gone during the warm spell. So the fire would have struck just when the adders were emerging from their winter burrows.

As noted in the article, a glass bottle looks like the culprit. All up the burn, a popular spot for swimmers, were empty bottles, cans and other litter. We cleared as much as we could and a big litter clearance is planned along with a tree planting sesh to replace the 15000 trees lost. the local hotel donated £10k to pay for trees.

The other thing we noticed was a complete lack of buzzards, eagles or ravens, all of which you would generally see when spending a whole day nosing around the glen. Speculation is that the fire drove them off and they have yet to return. No idea how many nesting sites may have been destroyed. What the survey next year reveals will be most telling!

Sad to see that Phil, just goes to show that isolated populations are particularly susceptible to events and disturbances. I’ve only ever seen two adders despite the crag/allotment that I get my username from being well known for them.

In a similar morbid sighting we saw a beached Sperm Whale this morning at Ettrick Bay on Bute, been there a while apparently and is steadily (and fragrantly) decomposing- there’s lumps of blubber all over the beach. Let’s just say that we now know that it doesn’t agree with the dog’s stomach

Thats a heartbreaking read Phil

Truly sad how one thoughless / careless act can have such an impact.

The first Swallows arrived back at the Towers yesterday .... and the first midges today.

Our seagulls were shagging this afternoon and the nest on the wall will soon be populated

On a wander in the Forest of Dean today in search of bluebells, we found no bluebells, but a deer, and maybe its kid.

This was after a lovely "surprise" bumping into Kev and Peter at the Hopewell Colliery cafe

First gaggle of swifts overhead this evening

Saw some unbelievably cute tiny coot chicks today and watched them being fed by their parents.

Also first cuckoo.

Heard the first cuckoo of the year at my brothers yesterday

Buzzard circling over my house yesterday. As common as they are elsewhere in the country, I've never seen them from my garden

Thought we had slightly ruined our pond over winter, as it went stagnant with too many leaves rotting in it, plus a female frog died in it and we didn't notice for a while But, a bit of a clearout and top up, and it cleared up and is now showing signs of more life again, including a couple of tadpoles despite not seeing any spawn. Lots of visiting frogs, including this little cute one with a blanket of weed:

Ah bless!

While sitting in the garden earlier there were a couple of pairs of Lapwings going through their courtship flights. I think they are the first ones I've seen around here - they used to be really common on the farm.

I've just seen a Goshawk going through the trees by the river at the side of the house

Ooh, thats a good spot. Not seen one of those yet!
Just endless bunnies for me this week...

I've not seen one before Phil.

In Macclesfield Forest today I saw some sort of large hawk being followed by a crow. Not fighting, just apparently being chummy. They both landed on a branch and sat being friendly. As I approached, the hawk took off leisurely, shortly followed by his friend until they reached another tree and sat on that together. This happened three times while I watched. Most curious. No photo, sorry.

Saw a red kite. Nowt unusual about that but this one was just strolling around on the ground.

Not sure if it was injured or if there was a bit of dead something or other that it was guarding but it was most unconcerned with my presence a couple of meters away

We walked from Craven Arms back to Ludlow on the Shropshire Way on Saturday, 12 miles is more walking than I'm used to... well we sat on a fallen tree for a snack and moments later a Great Spotted Woodpecker landed on a vertical branch not 10 feet from us, obviously hadn't seen us and as soon as it did it was off in it's swoopy dippy flight pattern.