Herpetiles

Slow Worm 02

Slow Worm 05

Slow worm     Anguis fragilis

Quite common lizards usually found in mature gardens hiding under logs.  Put down a metal sheet or bit of roofing felt on dry ground if you want to see if you have them, and check underneath it regularly.  Photo taken April 2009 in the Forest of Dean.

Adder 09 square

Adder     Viperus berus

Adders are often mistreated by photographers as they get pulled, pushed, and pinned down on all manner of props.  I'm happy to say that this adder is wild and was not disturbed for the photo.  Photos cropped at the sides only.  Forest of Dean, UK, March 2008.

Adder 06

Marsh Frog 01 (crop)

Marsh frog     Rana ridibundis

Introduced into Kent in 1935 and has since adapted very well.  This one was found in a gloomy pond.

Marsh Frog 02

Common Frog 18  crop

Common frog     Rana temporaria

Nagshead, Forest of Dean, UK, March 2008.  I've never seen so many frogs...several hundred, all full of character.

Common Frog 04

Common Frog 20

Common Frog 1 (S)

Toad 06

Common toad     Bufo bufo

Toads mating 08

Toads mating.  Nagshead, Forest of Dean, UK, March 2008.

Grass Snake male 1 (S)

Grass snake    Natrix natrix

Back in 2000 I did an assignment for BBC Wildlife magazine to document a year in the life of wild grass snakes in an Oxfordshire forest.  These were some of the photos I took at a dead Beech tree during the mating season, soon after the eggs had hatched, and at a pond in the Autumn.

Grass Snake juvenile male (S)

Grass Snake in Mares Tails (S)

Common Lizard juvenile 01

Viviparous lizard      Lacerta vivipera

Nagshead, Forest of Dean, UK, March 2006.

Great Crested Newt 06

Great Crested Newt 3 (S)

Great Crested Newt embryo 05

Great crested newt      Triturus cristatus

Smooth Newt 03

Smooth newt      Lissotriton (Triturus) vulgaris

Palmate Newt 1 (S)

Palmate newt      Lissotriton helveticus

London, UK, March 2000.

Galleries      David J Slater

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