Each time I come to UWNR I walk the land - I don't always follow the same route but generally I skirt the boundaries - this enables me to observe changes in flora and fauna. Today I walked the land, at about 13.30, in blazing spring sun and very light winds - the temperature on the gauge was reading 18 degrees C.
As I walked alongside the most sheltered, southerly facing, ancient raised hedgerow, I heard a rustling in the undergrowth. I stopped, stooped and there sleekly moving was a large (probably) female adder. WOW!! About 10 feet further down the hedgerow, to the west, another rustle and disturbance, but this time the probable reptile was too fleeting. The male adder?