Tuesday 16 August 2011

Tuesday 16th. August 2011

Just a quick post on the results of the Dormouse and Reptile survey carried out today , up on the Greensand Ridge , with assistance from fellow blogger Phil/Sharp by Nature and fellow nature enthusiast Terry Laws . As things turned out , the extra hands were well used , and appreciated .
Dormice over the two sites amounted to 6 adults , 4 of which were mothers with young . We had almost all stages of development of the youngsters , 3 a few days old , still hairless and eyes still closed . 3 with hair but still with eyes closed . 3 with eyes open and with a good week or more to go before they left the box , pictured . And finally 4 four that almost exploded out of their box when the lid was removed like 'Jack-in-the-Boxes' , and will probably leave the box any time now . In all a total of 19 animals , which was where the extra hands came in very useful . The only other occupants of the boxes were several Copper Underwing moths .
The Reptile survey produced 4 Adders , 2 adult females , one pictured , one adult male , and this immature male .
A couple of interesting plants were found on the way round , the first being what I think is a white form of Common Hemp-nettle/Galeopsis tetrahit , the usual form being pinkish purple .But , as ever , I stand to be corrected . The other one looked like a white form of Bittersweet/Solanum dulcamara , but I believe it to be Black Nightshade/Solanum nigrum , another first for me .
All in all , a great day with great company .

5 comments:

Flora said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Flora said...

Oops...was trying to edit for spelling :-0
What I posted was...Never seen a dormouse in the hand, must be magical. And yes, agree black nightshade. Mel

Alan Pavey said...

Nice to find so many Dormice, does what you found constitute a good season for them?

Phil said...

That was a superb day Greenie. Many thanks for making it possible. I was really pleased to find any Dormice, but to find three families all at different stages was just great.

Warren Baker said...

Better than last year Greenie ?