Tony,

I've been thinking more about the winter management at the pond and the difficulty of surveying the site, couple of questions,

How effective are tins with Adders? I know they are effective for Smooth snakes and Slow-worms but would they produce good results for adders at an awkward site? I'm going to see later in the week if field glasses and finding a vantage point works, the trouble is with the bracken piles that the snakes can be at any level, either on the floor or on top of the piles, or using features, which seems to lead to the slightest movement disturbing them.

Secondly, given that winter management is carried out at the pond, what would be the most useful records for the area in terms of seeing how the extension to the habitat effects the populations of adders and grass snakes and the success of the work?

Thanks Tony, that gives me a lot more direction of what to do next. A few tins down sounds like the way forward as fortunately the site is relatively secluded. I'm just begining to get to know who's who at the moment, it seems that favoured basking sites are all in a very small area, given the choice available.

Let me know if your Surrey way and have the time, as your advice at the site of how to continue getting records would be invaluable.