Monday 23rd. April 2012

Given the weather forecast , I wasn't expecting to get out this St.Georges Day , but the expected rain came in a bit later , giving a chance of a quick look up on the Common , as the clouds gathered and the odd spot of rain was felt on the wind . All was quiet at the first LTTit nest , which was built about a week after the other one on the heathland . With Blackcap , Chiffchaff and Wren song above the wind , I reached the other nest in a brief gap in the cloud , and after waiting a few minutes , was

pleased to see both adults arrive with food , this being one of them . Now all they have to do is to make hundreds of journeys to and from the nest , without attracting the attention of the Magpies and Jays , quite an ask . Very soon after this shot , the first shower had me packing up and making my way back to the car . By the time I got home , the rain had really set in , and so it has continued .
As I mentioned yesterday , I made a visit to the Greensand Ridge , intending for it to be a flying visit , as gathering clouds were looking threatening . Almost immediately , I met a fellow enthusiast , and we spent some time looking around together and chatting . We both thought that animals would be out given the higher temperature , about 12C , but we weren't having any luck . After a while , we went our separate ways . A few minutes later , he returned , somewhat breathless , to tell me that he had found two male Adders 'dancing' , but they had only 'danced' for a short time , before disappearing into the vegetation . He did however get a few shots of the 'dance' , the first time he had seen it . We made our way to the spot , and , sure enough , everything was quiet . We said cheerio again and he went on his way , whilst I had a look around the area . I found nothing of interest , and was about to make my way also , but as I approached the original spot , found a male 'silverback'

Adder curled up in an area of moss , a couple of metres from the original sighting . He wasn't bothered by my presence , and he almost appeared sleepy . I got a couple of shots , then , to my

surprise from nowhere , in charges another 'silverback' , and all hell was let loose . There was so

much movement and thrashing about , that at times it appeared that there were more than two animals involved . Fortunately , I had my 100mm. macro lens on , but , even shooting at 1/4000th. of

a second , the lens was struggling to focus and record all the action , even though the light conditions were very reasonable . This trial of strength was sometimes devoted to which animal could get higher

that it's opponent , thus showing domination , where at other times , the emphasis seemed to be

which animal could stretch out further in the horizontal plain , to show superiority . All the action obviously took it's toll , and frequent rests were taken , but these were short lived as one or the other

animal restarted the combat . When I got home and downloaded the shots , it turned out that the combat had lasted for 32 minutes , at the end of which , the two animals slumped exhausted onto the

 moss , before both leaving the arena in different directions . I watched one return to the spot where the other chap first saw the pair and settled , and a minute or so later , I spotted what I'm sure was the other combatant , about 3 metres away in thick heather , where he started another combat session with another 'silverback' male . The pair soon disappeared from sight , and I was glad to get my breath back . To my mind , there had to be a receptive female somewhere in the area , but I never caught sight of her . The settled male was still recovering as I played back some of the 504 shots that I had taken during the 32 minute combat , which now takes me up to having witnessed the 'dance of the Adders' for the sixth time , I just can't believe it .