Portland Dorset

Found two adders today along with the usual common lizards on my daily visit to what I am now sure is a den.

The light one was in the same spot as yesterday's and is almost definitely the same snake.

I'm going to go out on a limb with the risk of being corrected and say that they're both males (over to you Wolfgang!).

Still a beginner and eager to learn more.

I went to one of my usual spots on Portland today and had the pleasure of watching these two.

The female sat stationary whilst the male moved slowly around her gently twitching and tapping her body with his head.

I didn't spend too much watching as I didn't want to disturb them.

An hour later I went back just in time to see them move off into the undergrowth as the rain started. 

It was a privilage to watch for a novice like me.

Suzi wrote: Good shots and interesting for you to see something like this. Do you think there is a reasonable population of adders on Portland? Must say I didn't see any on my visit but from the vegetation in your recent pix I think I can work out where they are.

I think the island has a few in various locations.

I'm a complete beginner and wouldn't like guess how it compares to the rest of the county.

There's certainly a fair few sightings every year from people that aren't actively looking for them.

Today I visited the spot that's becoming my 2nd home.

As I crept along I found a female coiled with a male coiled on top.  Not wanting to disturb the mating activities I moved away and checked another spot.

After about a half hour I returned to find the female alone but still in the same position.  As I sat quietly watching her for five minutes, I heard a commotion in the bushes.  Two male adders locked together shot vertically out of the top of the bushes and battled for a couple of minutes.  As they fought, they were getting closer and closer until they were battling by my feet.  Eventually they split up and went to opposite sides of the bush.

I watched the victor approach the female and begin what I believe to be a courtship ritual.  During this time the other male adder came and coiled next to me about a foot away and watched with me.

The victorious male moved away from the female and the male sat next to me moved in for another fight.  During this whole time a 3rd lone male watched from a distance without getting involved.

As I sat there I thought I heard peolpe approaching me from behind so I turned my head.  On looking down I saw another female coming towards me across a path.

Today's adder count.  Three males and two females.

My best day herping so far and a day I'll never forget.

Here's some photos of the days events..........