Friday 16th. September 2011

After playing host/chauffeur for best part of a week to visitors from Australia , I was really pleased to be out and about again , and already , the Dormouse/Reptile survey up on the Greensand Ridge was due . Once again , I was very pleased to have the assistance of Phil/Sharp by Nature and Terry , both of whom were out on the last survey , when 19 animals were found . The good news from that survey was that all the boxes that contained families one month ago were found empty this time , with all youngsters hopefully now finding their own ways in the big outside world . The first 50 boxes , which produced a singleton and two families , totalling 9 animals , today produced a singleton , and a very young family of a female and 6 youngsters , which were probably no older than a week old . The family were just counted and returned to their box , with the hope that the weather stays fair and gives them a chance to put enough weight on to ensure a successful hibernation . The second site , which produced 10 animals on the last survey , produced 14 animals this time . Both families found

last time had left their boxes , and two new families , one with five youngsters , well on their way to leaving home . The most entertaining  time came , when we opened a box , which I must admit very rarely contains any animals , only to have a female and 7 very boisterous youngsters jump out like

Jack-in-the-Boxes . There in fact five animals in the left hand bunch in this shot . Other mammals found during the day included one Wood Mouse and two Common Shrews , all of which managed to escape the camera .
The reptile survey didn't produce the numbers recorded last month , probably due to cooler nights , but 19 Slow Worms , 1 female Adder , 5 Grass Snakes and 5 Common Lizards , all made in into the book . Two Common Buzzards were seen at the second site , but overall , bird sightings were few .
The second site also produced 7-10 Small Copper butterflies , and amongst them were a couple of abberations of the species . The first was an individual that didn't have the copper band across the

hindwing , and a second individual that showed signs of the aberation lacticolour , with a

cream/straw area on it's forewing . The aberration didn't seem to bother a second butterfly , probably a male , trying to court it . After a few minutes , the lower specimen seemed to get fed up , and gave up . The only other interest found was this Robber Fly of the Asilidae family , which decided to eat

it's recently caught meal on Terry's binoculars , while we were sexing and weighing the 7 young Dormice .
Another good day , which hopefully means that six families will be around next season , and make next season's figures even better . Many thanks to Phil and Terry for their help and good company on a most satisfying day .