Such is the power of the current Brexit storm, that any issue unconnected (and many things connected) is swept out of thought almost as soon as it comes to mind. And having turned the most complex of sociological and economic issues into a straightforward question of ‘Yes or No’, it seems that every pointContinue reading “Bloodlines”
Tag Archives: common lizard
Sunshine
A blackbird piped up from a garden in the village yesterday afternoon. He wasn’t fully tuned, but it was still a sound to make me stop and smile. He’s quiet today, possibly because he’s heard the weekend weather forecast….. With a cold spell promised, I took the opportunity to pop down to my local patchContinue reading “Sunshine”
A flutter of wings
I completed a reptile survey on a local reserve last week, and found surprisingly little. There was a handful of slow worms, and a good scuttle of common lizards, but I failed to find a single snake which is a first for this site. I wasn’t unduly concerned. I deliberately opted to survey in theContinue reading “A flutter of wings”
Smooth Operator
It seems quite incredible to consider that our rarest reptile, the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) was only recognised as a British species in 1859. A specimen caught six years earlier had been previously dismissed as a grass snake (or variant of) and it was a man called Dr J E Gray who got round toContinue reading “Smooth Operator”