My son’s favourite place in Cornwall is the small nature reserve Windmill Farm on the Lizard peninsula (probably named after the Cornish “Lys Ardh”, meaning “high court” rather than being named after its lizards). The small pools in the heathland here are good for dragonflies in summer but the main attraction for us here are the reptiles and amphibians. The UK is not blessed with a very diverse herpetofauna but this is a pretty good place to go ‘herping’. Grass snakes are rare here and I do not know of people seeing them here, but adders can be found in the right places. The female pictured above was tiny, not longer than 20 cm but still very feisty, striking at me. The 60mm lens meant I had to come up close but it was more cute than threatening. Slow worms are quite common here. They usually creep away when discovered but some stay put and are easy to photograph. It is also possible to spot viviparous lizards here (‘proper’ lizards with legs) but a pic has to wait for another post.
An Bollenessor 