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GOLDEN ADDER

Adder (or Common Viper) - an unusual variant female, Bowland

I HAVEN'T SEEN AN ADDER WITH A PATTERN LIKE THIS BEFORE, is what most people I have spoken to say about this beautiful creature, which is currently living wild on the Bowland Fells. A female with a much faded dark pattern along its spine and a generally more golden colour. Young adders show the usual distinctive bracken-mimic pattern from a very early stage so this is obviously a 'morph' rather than a 'phase'. Any comments would be welcome. This lovely snake was also fairly docile and allowed a little coaxing into position. I don't pick them up but am not averse to getting them to look in the right direction for a while before I leave them alone to get on with their business.

Adder (or Common Viper) - a more typically-marked female

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ON THE PAVEMENT

Grayling, Silverdale

I LOVE SPENDING TIME ON THE LIMESTONE PAVEMENT in midsummer. It is one of our most unique and special habitats and is home to some sought-after butterflies and plants. Although I didn't manage to see a High Brown Fritillary today, which is very worrying, there were lots of Dark Green and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries around as well as Grayling and Northern Brown Argus. Other butterflies included Large and Small Skippers, Ringlet, Meadow Brown and Small Tortoiseshell but there were generally far fewer butterflies on the wing than usual for this time of year. Dark-red Helleborines were over by around one week, Lady's Slippers much longer but Broad-leaved Helleborines were about a week away from opening. Angular Solomon's Seal was also well over and Tutsan in fruit now. Nevertheless is was lovely to be amongst them all again, even though the light was so harsh with barely a cloud in the sky. Birds included a Tawny Owl being harassed by a small gathering of blackbirds and dragonflies, a female Black-tailed Skimmer on the pavement and a couple of wandering Brown Hawkers.

A lush stand of Herb Paris, ancient woodland indicator

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PINK STINK

East Lancashire's first Rose-coloured Starling drops one in Burnley

I GUESS IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME until Rose-coloured Starling finally turned up in East Lancs. I found myself on the streets of Burnley 0430 on Sunday morning amongst folks staggering home from drinking sessions, feral teenagers who appeared to have stopped out all night and a couple of 'ladies' sprawled on the pavement outside a long-closed pub... and I had hoped that by going early I might avoid people when searching for the starling in a residential area! The early start proved a waste of time apart from seeing a Little Ringed Plover briefly, which John Metcalf found on a piece of industrial wasteland nearby. It was alarming so we did not pursue it. I wonder how and why it found itself here with no water in sight? A day of butterflying around Morecambe Bay with Alan McBride quickly turned into a walk up Pendle instead and after a quick stop at the Riverbank Tearooms it was back to Burnley for another try. Fortunately this time the starling appeared, first on a chimney pot and then on a TV aerial but not for long. Eventually it gave itself up for a longer period on a nearby fenced off playing field, foraging with a flock of around 40 starlings. Thanks to Russel Carter and especially the finder, his brother-in-law, for making this possible!

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MIDSUMMER DOTTEREL

Eurasian Dotterel, female on Pendle Hill

MARTIN NAYLOR SURPRISED EVERYONE BY FINDING A DOTTEREL ON 29 JUNE! One wonders where this faded female came from and where it is going to? Female dotterels do not stay around to raise the family that is brooded by the male and they are known to wander after the event. On one hand the return passage of Scandinavian-breeding shorebirds is well underway now so it may have come a long way but on the other dotterel breeds in Cumbria and the North Pennines... It took around three hours for us to gain its confidence but eventually this bird would allow Alan and me to walk right up to it, easily the most approachable one I have seen on Pendle and a wonderful experience on a glorious sunny summer's day overlooking the Colne Valley on one side and the Ribble Valley on the other.

Pendleside Farm from Pendle Hill

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