Wednesday 4th. May 2011

Two days volunteering up on the Greensand Ridge , brought very little in the way of wildlife , as most of the time we were working in the yard . I did manage to see a female Wheatear yesterday , but that was as good as it got . Today was going the same way , until my Warden was called away to a meeting about 3 o'clock this afternoon , so I took the opportunity to have a look around on my way home . The lack of Adders continued , but I only managed to visit a few areas , and thought that a Slow Worm was all that was going to be found . That was until I came across this pair of young , adult Grass Snakes . I only had my old camera with me , and the batteries were playing up , but managed to get a few shots . Both were coming up to slough , their eyes already opaque , obviously severely restricting their vision , and therefore having to depend almost entirely on smell , hence the constant flicking of the tongue . Also around were several Scorpion Flies , this female made it to the card , but the male escaped when the camera started playing up . The only other interest were a couple of moths , one I know , the Speckled Yellow , photographed just as the batteries gave out completely , and one I don't , but I just have the feeling that it might be good , as I have never seen one like it before .

These three shots of it were taken a bit earlier when the camera was sort of behaving . Can 'the man' help out with this one ? Many thanks to Claire for identifying the moth and to Dean/DDD for the confirmation of Alabonia geoffrella , I'm affraid it doesn't have a common name .