...... not something you see every day.



I think it is a breeding pair.



This one was take about ten minutes later in the same spot. Like buses I haven't seen one for years than four come along at once.




Frank

Are they common lizards Frank?

I think so, but I believe they are far from common these days.

Frank

Nice to see a bit of interesting wildlife!

There used to be lot's of lizards along the coast in Lancashire many years ago, but they have become scarce.

I remember going fishing with a friend of mine a few years ago and driving down a farm track, only for a snake to rear up from the grass in the middle of the track - and then dive for the undergrowth and out of the way of the car

I haven't seen a lizard in absolutely years.

I have just discovered I have a large and vibrant population in my garden.

I have lived here for three years now. I had not seen any so far. I had been doing extensive hard landscaping up until the end of last summer. Maybe this is why I have only just spotted them.

They obviously like the wall I built as there are loads of them up there all the time now.


Frank

They are cold blooded and the wall will retain heat so the lizards find it attractive and will bask on sunny days. If you have lizards you might also have slow worms, have a look under large flat stones or in dry stone walls.

__________________
“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

SB you are right I do have slow worms. I have only seen them twice in three years. I try not to disturb them as they struggle to get away from my cat.
I have deliberately left some large flat stones and a big bit of corrugated material in the garden for them to hide under.
As young boy I was a keen herpetologist keeping both grass and garter snakes, so I am really pleased to find reptiles living in my garden.


On a similar subject I have seen three wild grass snakes his year as well all were swimming at the time. Two of them where swimming in the Monnow where the river runs at the back of Monmouth. They where both about a hundred metres down stream of the foot bridge that leads to the town centre... I was amazed to see them in such an urban setting.

It has been many years since I have seen an adder in the wild.


Frank

About 15 years ago I bought some goldfish from a garden centre near Doncaster and noticed in the tank some enormous tadpoles. The proprietor explained that the fish were bred in Florida and occasionally these tadpoles arrived in the consignment with them. I managed to get him to include 3 tadpoles with my goldfish purchase which I subsequently reared in a small aquarium. When all the legs had appeared and the tails absorbed I realized that they were American Bullfrogs.

Even as juveniles they were about the size of a year old common frog and were capable of eating enormous amounts of food (they were particularly partial to steak mince as well as copious quantities of woodlice, craneflies and other assorted insects).

The only drawback with them was the racket they made all night. Chirping so loud it could keep you awake.

As they grew to larger proportions (too big for their aquarium) and realising that to release them into the wild would be an act of potentially catastrophic environmental stupidity I sold all three of them on to a French restaurant.







.....seriously, I had them taken away by the RSPCA who found them a home in a zoo somewhere!

Frank,

Thanks for the pics of the lizards - that bench was nice and warm.

Takes me back to my childhood when I used to collect such things. What I remember most about lizards was the need to be very careful when catching them. You had to grab the whole creature because if not you would be left holding its tail!

Ah those non PC days when my back yard was full of boxes of lizards, slow worms, grass snakes. Also jars with tadpoles, leeches and newts - if I'd been really lucky - a great crested newt!