Having only seen my first ever wild Adders a few weeks ago, I was keen to get back for another visit but the great British weather had other ideas with persistent rain, fog, murk etc during the past week preventing me from making that visit. Finally, Saturday dawned with the forecast looking good and I arrived at the site at 9am in beautiful sunshine just as Julian and Alex Perry had arrived. We made our way to the area concerned and within minutes had found 3 Adders already basking out in the sunshine. We spent the next 6 hours on site finding a total of 5 Adders, 3 females and 2 males which gave us plenty of time to study and photograph them in their natural habitat. If you used a bit of fieldcraft and were patient, some lovely views were on offer as I once again found myself hypnotised by them and their subtle markings. It was interesting on one occasion to see some dog walkers approaching with a dog and some distance away, the Adder must have felt the vibrations of them approaching and was soon off at speed back into cover. A sure sign that they will do anything within reason to get into any sort of confrontation. The time went surprisingly very quickly and with hundreds of photos taken and another superb experience in their company, we headed back off mid afternoon back to the cars. The weather looks pretty good all week and hopefully, I might have another visit next weekend to see them again. They are very addictive I can assure you. I don't know much of their lifestyle which I will need to learn about but I'm told they will move off soon to other areas to continue their secretive lifestyle.
Adder (female)
Adder (male)
Adder (female)
Adder (male)
Adder (female)
Adder (male)
Adder (female)
Adder (male)
Adder (female)
These are the very best Adder images I've ever seen,well done Marc,every shot looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteJohn.
Many thanks John. Much appreciated. Having never seen them before u til 2 weeks ago, I'm strangely addicted to them. Fantastic animals to photograph.
DeleteThese images are absolutely stunning, Marc. I love your close-ups of the heads!
ReplyDeleteI'm now firmly resolved, on the next fine day, to get over to the location around 60 miles from my home where I stand best chance of finding one. I just hope they are still there - last year they seemed to disappear and there were reports that this was probably due to people picking them up and moving them to more photogenic locations!
Best wishes - - - Richard
Many thanks Richard. Having read a bit about them the last week and watch a few videos, I can confirm that it seems a lot of people do indeed handle them and stick them into photogenic positions. This seems like madness to me, not only a poisonous snake which in some cases could do some real damage but also the stress that must be being caused to the snake. I can happily say all my shots are taken naturally.
DeleteAbsolutely stunning images Marc. As Richard above mentions, unfortunately disturbance is the biggest danger to these beautiful animals. When I was a lad, (a long time ago) I used to watch them and occasionally do what he mentions there. Although this probably didn't help the situation the main reason the Adders went was the Scramble motorbikes that started to use the area. Another local site the Gorse bushes have been grubbed out and that has moved the Adders to other areas.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Bob for your kind words. Much appreciated. My reading suggests what you say. Loss of habitat seems to be the main reason for their decline. I assume however that there are many areas where they do exist without much of our knowledge. I at least hope so anyway.
DeleteBrilliant pictures. I haven't seen one for years, but we do have grass snakes at one of our ringing sites.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Findlay. I was quite taken back how relaxed they are around us and with some Field craft,how close you can actually get. The opposite to my experiences with Grass Snakes which seem to be off at the earliest they can.
DeleteVery addictive will probably pop up next week as it is supposed to be sunny .Maybe a Brimstone.
DeleteYes indeed. I will probably have another session at the weekend if I can. Saw a few Brimstone at the weekend there. Good luck if you go.
DeleteFabulous images of the Adders, photographs are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Bob. An experience I will never forget.
DeleteWell I've photographed adders on quite a few occasions but nothing as stunning as your pics. Very impressed, Mike.
ReplyDelete