Friday 15th.April 2011

Had planned for a return trip up onto the Downs this morning , but those plans changed , and I finished up giving Carol a lift up to town , then stopping off at Spring Park Pond for a look around . With less wind , the temperature was up on yesterday , but things were very quiet . Plenty of bird song from the woods behind , but nothing happening around the pond itself . A walk to the small meadow in search of the odd butterfly also proved fruitless , so I decided that there was only one thing to do , head off to the Greensand Ridge . It was even cooler up there , as I headed for the spot where I had 3 Adders last visit . On arrival , not a single animal and nothing seen on the way there . Walking on , I hadn't gone 20 mtrs. , when I spotted a male and female enjoying the morning sunshine on a mossy bank . I left them to enjoy the warmth and did a loop around the surrounding area . Arriving back at the original spot , I looked in on the pair , and through steamed up glasses , saw that the big female now had her head on the male's shoulder , so to speak . I headed off again in a different direction and returned some 15 minutes later to find two had become three , a second male in close attendance below the steamy pair . This could be interesting I thought to myself , and set up the tripod and waited . All was calm for a while , then the new male started moving up to the pair above him . With that , the original male reared up to protect his prize from the interloper . Thus began 5 minutes of combat , with each male trying to subdue the other , whilst crashing their way at speed through the ground vegetation . Once they got started in anger , the female turned and disappeared over the top of the mossy bank . To and fro , the two males were hard to follow with the camera and the speed of their movements was incredible . Sometimes the moves were vertical , supported by the vegetation , and sometimes horizontal , through the same vegetation . Every now and again , they would disappear out of sight , only to pop up again a short distance away . Most of the time they were entwined , but sometimes they just ran side by side , like a pair of racehorses . Eventually , they got further and further away , and just after this shot , disappeared from view for good . I waited for 20 minutes or so , but no movement was seen . I was due home for lunch , so made my way back to the car , thinking what a lucky person I am , having now seen the 'Dance of the Adders' for the fifth time . After lunch , I thought I would wind down with a walk over the Common . As I passed the horse field on the bottom lane , on a very narrow corner was a horse in the road , happily munching on the lush green vegetation . I parked on the corner and showed hazard lights , whilst I tried to get the horse off the road and onto a footpath that runs uphill alongside the field I assumed it had got out of . Not having dealt at all with horses , I was quite relieved when the animal appeared of a good nature , and followed my prodding and pushing . I was glad to see a young couple pull up and the male driver offered to help , adding that he was dead scared of horses . I sent him up the footpath to prevent the horse from exiting the footpath onto another road at the top , and tried to encourage the horse under the fence , where I thought it had got out . No way was he going back under the fence and made it clear that he wanted more of the roadside vegetation . I asked the young chap to get into the field and see if there was anything we could use to barricade the two ends of the footpath , there wasn't . I thought then that we needed help and rang 999 . Whilst waiting for the Police , the young chap found a halter and brought it over . I got it over the horse's head , but I had it upside down . Luckily , the horse allowed me to take it off and put it on properly and buckled it up . I then tied the horse to a fence post , which he didn't like , just before the Police arrived . Between us , we still couldn't get onto the property , when a couple of horse owners from the adjacent field turned up . They didn't have a contact number , but were good at keeping the horse calm . Eventually , we managed to pull up three fence post and whilst treading the wires flat , managed to walk the horse back into the field , repair the fence , and 75 minutes after stopping , I was back heading for the Common . I met a friend there , and had a pleasant walk around with no excitement , until just before we left . But I will tell that story next time after I get confirmation , or otherwise , on a butterfly we found .