SNAKE ON THE ROAD . . .

WOW how lucky have we been today. A morning at Tophill Low Reserve yielded not only this grand female grass snake . . . over 1 metre long . . .see extra Big Girl . . . but also views of 8 Buzzards, Little Ringed Plover, young Shelduck and a close up of a Kestrel enjoying his lunch . . . see heavily cropped extra Take Off as he ends the feast.
Then a rush down to Scarborough to catch Jack doing his project work with the brand new Scarborough Lifeboat . . . see extra Jack At Work. A grand day to be alive !
Notes One . . . to see grand views of the Scarborough Lifeboat check my friend Blipper LaurenceA1
Notes Two . . . follow The Lifeboat Project from my Blip Journal . . . Blipink Two
Notes Three . . . The Grass Snake Factfile . . the largest snake in the UK, the Grass Snake particularly likes wetland habitats . . . especially Tophill Low. Also called the Ringed Snake or Water Snake, Grass Snakes hibernate from October to April. During the summer, they can be found basking near favourite ponds  . . . or even swimming . . . and even clearly on roads !
Greenish in colour, with a yellow collar and black neck patches, the females are bigger than males. They are very shy and will slink off quickly if they feel the vibrations something approaching . . . hence the reaction to my size 12 footquake. Grass Snakes follow a seasonal diet. In the spring they take fish when they are spawning and easier to catch. During the summer, they favour newts for the same reason and, from July onwards, they move on land catching mostly frogs and toads. They can catch mice and voles but only on rare occasions.