On Sunday 21st June we went to Parc Slip Nature Reserve, Bridgend to learn more about the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 'Dragonscapes' project.
We had a wonderful presentation by ARC's officer Mark Barber, who taught us about the various reptiles in South Wales and the project they are going to undertake. The amazing naturalist Iolo Williams was there too and spoke to us about the project and his thoughts on reptiles - he truly is one of the nicest guys you could meet.
There was also a lot of printed material available with all the information you need on amphibians and reptiles. Iolo kindly signed one of these for me :)
The presentation from ARC
Meeting Iolo!
Lots of reading material and Iolo's autograph
ARC is a national wildlife charity committed to conserving amphibians and reptiles and protecting their disappearing habitats. They have over 80 reserves throughout the UK and now they are planning their Dragonscapes” project – which will involve local communities in habitat creation and restoration, and the monitoring of amphibians and reptiles across South Wales.
After the presentation we all went out into the reserve to do a reptile ramble. We were lead by Mark, who was equipped with a snake hook and we followed him to some of the restricted meadows of Parc Slip.
The meadow we entered
We were told to walk slowly and be careful where we were walking because not only were the snakes under the corrugated sheeting but they could also be basking in the meadow.
When we got to the first corrugated sheet we all stood around and waited patiently for Mark to reveal what was underneath. We couldn't believe it...there was an adder under it and as he pulled it back further a grass snake appeared too. It was fantastic!
The first adder we saw - a small female...
...then when Mark pulled the sheeting back further it revealed a large grass snake as well!
Sheet after sheet we looked under and below are some of our amazing findings...
Grass snake
Two grass snakes under this one
A female adder
A very young grass snake
Male adder
A small grass snake and two female slow worms
Closeup of the slow worm
A grass snake
Check out this below video of Mark revealing a beautiful grass snake...
We were also lucky enough to see two female lizards that were pregnant - their tummies full with baby lizards. I also learnt that they give birth to live lizards and there can be around 15 of them.
A pregnant female lizard
Another pregnant female lizard
Heading back to the visitor's centre after a successful reptile ramble
We had a fantastic day there and we couldn't believe that we saw slow worms, adders, grass snakes and lizards all in one day. Before today I had only ever seen a single adders and had never even seen a grass snake in the flesh!
It was so informative with ARC and Iolo and it made you appreciate how much these creatures are in trouble if we don't start protecting them now. Please visit their website for more information and to find out how you can be part of the 'Dragonscapes' project.
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