ADDERS IN THE WYRE FOREST 2001

The following is taken from Sylvia Sheldon's report for 2001, with her permission. For further information, including the detailed weather report, please contact her directly at the address given. The information is her copyright and should not be used without permission.

Summary

If 2000 set a record for rainfall (the wettest since 1872), 2001 was almost equally wet, and secured its own place in the records as the warmest since records began in 1766.

But 2002 will be remembered in the UK for more than the weather pattern. On February 24th, Foot and Mouth Disease was confirmed in Northumberland and Essex, and spread rapidly throughout most of Britain.

As a result the countryside was closed four days later, including the Wyre Forest. The usual reptile and amphibian surveys that are summarised annually in this report's predecessors were immediately curtailed. Only a few sites were visited with their owners permission. As a reslul a full report of adder numbers cannot be presented for the year.

Over the 7 months following its detection FMD affected thousands of farms, with 2030 cases confirmed and over 4 million animals slaughtered. By the time restrictions began to be lifted, the reptile and amphibian year was virtually over.

HERPETOFAUNA DATA

PHENOLOGY

First male adder February 7
First frogspawn February 21
First common lizard and slow-worm March 13
First femal adder March 31
First grass snake April 1
First great crested newt spawn April 6
First male adder slough April 17
First adder courtship April 30
First adder combat and mating May 7
Last adder mating May 12
Last adder September 17

Table 3: 2001 Data

 

Year First Sighting Air Temp C Grass Temp C First Slough
1990 February 5 13.0 14.0 April 8
1991 February 23 14.0 17.0 April 19
1992 February 23 13.0 15.0 April 22
1993 February 17 10.7 12.5 April 16
1994 February 10 10.0 15.0 April 18
1995 February 12 11.4 11.0 April 10
1996 February 16 12.2 15.0 April 24
1997 February 15 8.6 11.0 April 8
1998 February 11 13.6 12.5 April 17
1999 February 16 8.0 9.0 April 16
2000 February 19 6.3 12.5 April 7
2001 February 7 10.0 11.5 April 17

Table 4: Cumulative Data

POPULATION DATA

Year Sites Surveyed Sites with Adders Mature Males Mature females Total Average per Site
1990 56 50 185 55 240 4.8
1991 76 61 211 56 267 4.2
1992 78 55 159 33 192 3.5
1993 80 59 186 70 256 4.3
1994 76 50 153 29 182 3.6
1995 76 44 103 14 117 2.6
1996 80 41 112 32 144 3.5
1997 84 44 102 31 133 3.0
1998 85 42 103 34 137 3.3
1999 67 35 100 20 120 3.4
2000 87 24 69 13 82 3.4
2001

Data incomplete due to FMD

Table 5: Adder Numbers

 

Year

Grass Snakes

Slow-Worms

Lizards
  Mature Juvenile Mature Juvenile Mature Juvenile
1990 30 6 23 3 22 2
1991 16 4 24 11 20 0
1992 22 8 27 8 10 3
1993 45 4 57 5 35 3
1994 18 2 36 10 22 1
1995 19 4 23 13 11 0
1996 18 4 32 16 15 0
1997 25 3 42 11 42 0
1998 20 1 34 8 37 0
1999 26 8 32 9 18 1
2000 11 1 21 3 23 0
2001

Data incomplete due to FMD
Table 4: Other Reptiles recorded in Wyre during Adder Census

 

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank:

Chris Bradley, Rosemary Winnall, Phil Rudlin and Nigel Hand for their census work
all those who reported reptile sightings
Landowners on whose property the study has been undertaken.
 Address for Communications

Ms Sylvia Sheldon
Knowles Mill
Dowles Brook
Wyre Forest
Nr. Bewdley, Worcs.
DY12 2LX
 
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