James Chubb

Totally Wild and Not Too Wet!

Seaton Marshes’ annual fun-fest was another barn-storming success this year. Although the weather wasn’t as balmy as 2008, the rain held off and over 600 people enjoyed a wetland experience. Events ranged from the elaborate such as bushcraft skills, where friction fire lighting was the order of the day; to the joyously simple pursuit of catching sticklebacks in a net.

What pleased the team the most was the number of people who turned up on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday to participate, largely in the same activities each time. I’ve always known you can’t tire of pond dipping – these guys served to confirm my belief.

It’s the same with bird watching. The reason why individuals visit the bird hide at Seaton Marshes, (and other bird hides too of course) is that there is always the exciting sense of the unknown, especially at this time of year. Birds make such fabulous subjects for hobbies, pardon the pun, largely due to the unpredictability of their movement, coupled with their tendency to be just overt enough to keep us interested. For the individual with a passing interest in birds, there is enough colour, flamboyance and drama in a charm of goldfinches to satisfy our curiosity.

For the person with a bit more interest there’s the innate satisfaction of lists and creating targets for finding previously unseen species.

And for the true fanatic there are leaf warblers. But beware: that way lies madness.

Autumn is the time of year to amaze yourself with a visit to a bird hide, so make a note to explore one of the District’s estuaries at some point before the end of September, you won’t be disappointed!

I was pleased to receive two emails from readers of the column this week, one of which drew me up on a point of grammar. Knowing full well how disappointed my grandmother would have been on a grammatical error creeping in to my copy, I’ll publicly admit to my mistake here and take it on the chin! But, before that, a correspondent seeking advice about snakes... advice I am always very happy to offer:

Subject: snake advice please

Hi James,
I was turning my compost heaps this afternoon when I disturbed a beautiful grass snake (at least 24" I would say).  While I share your enthusiasm for these creatures I don't have the same knowledge about them!
 
This heap is nicely warm with plenty of brandlings round the edges.  Is my snake likely to be a female looking for somewhere suitable for her babies?  If so, how long should I leave the heap undisturbed?
 
At that size, I would say your specimen is a female – what a wonderful animal! At this time of year, the eggs have been laid and I would say she was finding some convenient warmth in this particularly cold summer!

That’s not to say that your heap might not have harboured grass snake eggs earlier in the year, look out for activity around late spring and hatchlings by the beginning of August. If snakes are there now, I would suggest there is no need to change the compost regime you currently follow – it seems to be doing the trick. However if you do uncover leathery cream/off white eggs in future years, make sure you cover them back up again to allow them to incubate. Snakes in this country need all the friends they can get.

Best wishes

James

Subject: Finding snakes in the rain

Thanks for your email Brigitte, I put a deal of importance upon  good grammar, however being a student of the 80s and 90s there are bound to be instances where the rot creeps back in. Thanks for drawing my attention to this, and I hope it doesn’t detract too much from your enjoyment of the article.

Best wishes

James