[cofe]

keep em peeled on the top of curbar/froggatt. we clocked one there last year. a good tick.

[Idol eyes]

Dolphins, Fistral... Breaching 5ft waves...

[al123]

a while ago but worth a mention i think. just after xmas in middish jan me and a mate saw 2 mountain hares on howden edge in the peak district. a lovely sight on a great WALK

[slackline]

Get lots of mountain hares up on t'moors, always good to see them, but often tricky to get close...



Unless they're doing their "if I stay still they won't know I'm here" trick (not my pic)...

[SA Chris]

They must be gutted when they turn white to be hidden against the snow, only to stick out like turd in a punchbowl. Often see them out ski touring in Cairngorms.

[slackline]

The one in the bottom picture looks pretty pissed off!

At least they got to use the results of their moulting this year, and for a couple of months too!

[robertostallioni]

They must be gutted when they turn white to be hidden against the snow, only to stick out like turd in a punchbowl. Often see them out ski touring in Cairngorms.

[Johnny Brown]

Where were the Adders Johnny? Would love to see one basking in the sun.

They occur all over the eastern moors south of The Grouse pub, though in low numbers, and favour certain spots. This time of year they come out of hibernation, bask in the sun to get going, then moult, mate and disperse. They like to be near water, if you can find a sunny, sheltered bracken bank near a stream you might be in luck. The odd ones turn up in Froggatt woods too.

[Falling Down]

A few years back I went for a walk over Bleaklow just after the snow had melted. Me and the dog turned a rise and both got startled by hundreds of white hares darting for cover against the brown peat. I never realised there were so many. An amazing sight.

[Idol eyes]

Where were the Adders Johnny? Would love to see one basking in the sun.

Is it true they return Adders to Sennen and Lands End if numbers rise in certain areas?

[Johnny Brown]

Eh? Who are 'they'?

[lagerstarfish]

CIA, FBI, ATF, CPL, CBA; the usual 'they'

[cofe]

clocked a Curlew halfway up Ringinglow yesterday avo. Not seen one there before innit.

[SA Chris]

I clocked one once. Unfortunately I was doing 70 at the time, poor beast. Didn't make as much mess as the pheasant I hit doing 90 on the A7 though.

[slackline]

Flora as opposed to fauna, but read today that the ghost orchid which was thought to have gone extinct 23 years ago has been discovered in Herefordshire...



Amazingly it has no chlorophyll as it doesn't rely on the sun for energy, instead has some sort of symbiotic relationship with a fungus that grows on its roots. 

[SA Chris]

Clearly not a very good relationship if it's nearly extinct.

Where did you spot it slackers? And is an orchid classified wildlife?

(not that it really bothers me, but the type of things you usually pick up on )

[Johnny Brown]

Old news that word, there was a brilliant report in British Wildlife back in the autumn. Amazing story - though its never been considered extinct - over its recorded 150 year history in the uk there have been several long gaps in the records, with one site clocking up 62 years between flowerings! Some recent records are believed to have been suppressed for protection, basically its the holy grail of botanists in the uk.

[Somebody's Fool]

Really? I saw two of them the other day. Do they only flower in the wee small hours or something? Because this was about four in the morning...

[slackline]

Clearly not a very good relationship if it's nearly extinct.

Where did you spot it slackers?

In The Independent 

It only flowers when conditions are right and can quite happily sit living under leaf-litter for sometime apparently which is one of the reasons that its so hard to find as it flowers irregularly.

And is an orchid classified wildlife?

(not that it really bothers me, but the type of things you usually pick up on )

"Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms."

[Brolly]

Saw my first UK reptiles of the year today.  Two adders at Allerthorpe Common near York. 

I thought it may have been to cold as the sun wasn't really getting through.  But it obviously wasn't!!





Anybody seen any others yet this year?

Ol

[al123]

aaarrrggghhhh!!!!!! i HATE snakes sooo much and i dread the day of jumping off a boulder onto a curled up adder waiting to sink its fangs into me! uurrrghhh scary stuff IMO! but good photos

[SA Chris]

I was bouldering at Ibex in Utah, and heard that classic rattlesnake sound just as I was stepping off a boulder. Froze mid step and blood turned to ice. Had to move a bit again before I could figure out where sound was coming from - was luckily actually under a boulder a few metres way. Quite cool to see once I knew where it was.

[jordysi]

riding the road bike this weekend on an AUDAX race thing, deepest darkest weardale,

shouts of holes in road,

I got to the front...... more holes,


then mud on road,


then Lambs then......



Peacock....WTF????  bloody Massive too

[john horscroft]

Sparrow Hawk, top of Hutcliffe Wood Road amongst the houses...............

[chriss]

I was bouldering at Ibex in Utah, and heard that classic rattlesnake sound just as I was stepping off a boulder. Froze mid step and blood turned to ice. Had to move a bit again before I could figure out where sound was coming from - was luckily actually under a boulder a few metres way. Quite cool to see once I knew where it was.

On a similar theme I'm in Australia at the mo & have seen 60 plus bird species, Brown & red bellied black snakes, stumpy tailed lizards, all the usual marsupials Funnel web, red back, wolf spiders, but most fun was being bitten by a white back spider in the Grampians. Result was Six hospital visits a week of four a day antibiotics & mild necrosis of the finger.

This place is fucking deadly cant wait to get back to the safety of GB!