3rd July 2011 - Dartford Warblers, Stonechats, Redpolls.

We took a gentle walk this evening, as the sun was setting, and the air was decidedly freshening after a long hot muggy day.

No sign of the deer, but a few rabbits and the tail of a retreating dog fox were the total mammals seen.

Plenty of stonechats were hopping from bush to bush- many family groups still flitting around together.

I'm not entirely sure why, as the image is not of high quality, but this appealed to me at the time, and still doesn't completely offend.

A group of Dartford Warblers was about also, I think a single adult male with a pair of juveniles, but while keeping a distance in the fading light it was hard to categorically decide.

A first for the area, and one we have previously only seen in Ham Wall (Somerset) was this Redpoll, with his partner.

Nice to see, and made a change!


Concerningly we have heard about another fire, it would appear that on Saturday a (luckily much smaller than Upton Heath) area was deliberately burnt.  My feelings are likely to be guessed- I will be trying to find the area affected to see the extent of damage for myself.

16th June 2011 - Upton Heath Fire

The continuing work of volunteers kept me out all week, and a couple of images of the scenery are here.

Just visible is the distant land, unburnt.  The pools of water still stand from the excellent work of the Fire Service.

I turn around, and I can just make out life in the distance.  The eerie quiet is disturbing, all that moves are occasional spiders rescuing egg sacs.

Again, this individual did not perish in the fire, but likely many months if not years before.  The bushes would have been around 6-8 feet tall, from the 3 stems that still stood over, but are otherwise reduced to little more than 6 inches tall. 

Perhaps the fox lay here, as a final resting spot, having moved away from the family den to keep the area cleaner for the following generations.  The skeleton would have remained undiscovered had it not been for the fire.

But in the second image, the clump of grass lying behind the skull, fresh shoots are breaking out already just a week after the fire has passed. 

With fewer reptile finds, and chances of further work being of any aid to those that survive, seeing the heath regenerate itself is heart warming.

15th June 2011 - Death, Doom and Destruction ... continued ...

A few images suggesting the task in hand for volunteers aiding the Dorset Wildlife Trust in the mission to save whatever reptiles possible from over 200 hectares of almost entire annihilation.

The process: Groups spread themselves out, armed with pillowcases, and searched for anything that could move.

What seemed like the hind quarter of a burnt rabbit- but at least something had been making a meal of it.  Plenty of corvids, gulls and raptors were using the little cover to eat whatever did or didn't move from the heath.

A black headed gull- not a direct casualty of the fire, but died not long after.  Whether it ate something it shouldn't, or someone (perhaps one of the surviving foxes?) caught it? but strange it was then left, barely eaten.

A regrettably common sight.  This slow worm apparently burst open in the intense heat.  Dorset Fire and Rescue believe temperatures exceeded 1000 degrees celsius in some areas, and had to abandon several hoses due to the heat and spread of fire.

Yet another slow worm- perhaps this one choked on the smoke, or suffocated with the lack of oxygen.  Maybe his blood boiled inside his skin, or he died of heat stroke.  He could have collapsed in exhaustion and dehydration sliding ahead of the blaze, eventually giving up before the flames passed over.  But does it matter how he died?

This caterpillar is thought to have been a fox moth.  Hard to tell when their colours and hairs have been altered in the fire.

A grass snake, just a few yards from water, lying dead next to a sand lizard.  The hunter and hunted apparently lay dying together.

The remnants of a nest. This could potentially have been an infertile egg, or abandoned before the fire. All the same the embryo is a crisp within, and the nest is all but gone.

This would also have been a nest, once.  From the size of egg something around the size of a pheasant, although this seems unlikely for the area.  Eggs ranging from the smallest Dartford Warbler were found, to these as some of the largest.  It is truly unknown how many of the nests would have managed to fledge, and how many of the adults would have just sat tight on the nest hoping to preserve the young irrespective of the heat of the blaze.  Nests that would have been several feet above the ground in dense bushes are now only identifiable by the remnants of shells lying on bare scorched earth, with no trace of the inhabitants or habitat.

There was some hope, some optimism, and some life.  This female adder was very much alive, and carefully taken to safety by trained and gloved hands, with the aid of a very long pole.  Whatever was living was livid.  And a livid venomous reptile is not usually appreciative of a helping hand, however well meant it might be.

14th June 2011 - The damage remains

With the slightly better weather forecast I took my camera out with me. 

Irrespective of the means of capture, and the weather, the outlook was bleak.

This is an unusual view- there is green undamaged vegetation in the picture.  I can still smell the soot that permeated the entire area.

We never did finally decide what species this had been, before it was burnt to death. 

For me this had to be the most horrific find.

A female adder.

Is she not screaming out in agony as she felt her body burn to a crisp?

Those powerful jaws, and venomous fangs just hanging, now unable to move without crumbling to dust.

Even her eye still has that lustre, that glistened in rage as she could feel her death engross her body as a whole.

Today's reptile death count, for me. 

I do not believe I could even wish this end for the perpetrators of the crime.

I do not know what morally should happen, if the guilty party were ever to be found.

13th June 2011 - The Upton Heath Arson

Following the news of the fire at Upton Heath, we volunteered to help Dorset Wildlife Trust with many others, in whatever way we could.

The main task, for the time being is to find, capture, and release in suitable habitat whatever reptiles could be saved.

My first view of the scene was shocking.  The smell of burning was evident from a significant distance, yet little wind was blowing.

Large numbers of lizards were found, and I will hopefully be able to post a few videos of release of these at a later date.  Adders, smooth snakes and regrettably 'dead things' were also found.

A single picture today, taken on my mobile phone purely for interest.

A larger corvid, likely Carrion Crow or Rook.
This must have died well before the fire, and the flesh macerated by natural means, but the fire reveals hidden ground.

SLIK 88 quick release

This the release?

2nd January 2011 - Wood Peckers, Red Deer and a first (year and life!)

Saw a good number of goldcrests, at most six in one bush, all scouting desperately for spiders and bugs... And naturally staying out of photogenic light!

Further on towards the landfill site got a group of woodpeckers, one greater spotted and one lesser, chased by a pair of green woodpeckers... I have never seen so many, of all three species together- and how large and aggressive the greens were towards the others.

After having a gentle drive to see if the waxwings were around, we found a few redwings with some black birds gorging on berries- and had a little tip off while there...




...and low and behold our first ever bittern sighting! Constantly skulking in the reeds, and solitary, but we understand that two and sometimes three have been seen.

A few friendly local birders were there, who pointed out some good local patches, and between us we kept a vague idea of where the bird was at most times. No truly clear sightings were to be had today, and manual focus was essential through the reeds, but I managed a few images.

1st January 2011 - Canford Heath

Fewer dog walkers about today, presumably their owners care more about nursing self inflicted alcohol abuse scars than regularly exercising their wards.

Usual selection of great, coal and blue tits with no robins to be seen. Two goldcrests loitered by the edge of the golf course, and signs of a plucked pigeon indicate a raptor nearby too...

A solitary red deer was resting where I have seen her before, quietly chewing away and caring little for my presence.



Still no sign of waxwings, however...