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Mon - May 7, 2007KRAG Field Day Weardale/Chartwell 28/4/07On a warm and breezy morning of 28 April, a truly
international group of fifteen, with representatives from Spain, France, Greece
and New Zealand, toured Weardale (on the green sands ridge overlooking the
Weald). Then, after a pub lunch, a rather smaller group toured Chartwell. We
were led by the National Trust warden Paul Naden and KRAG member Nick
Johnson.
 Paul Naden in Toy’s Hill car park briefing the Group about Weardale and Chartwell (R. Hodges) Posted at 05:43 pm Read More Thu - April 26, 2007Where's Rick?Rick has been posting reports from his visits to
Mabira Forest in Uganda. I thought folks might like to know exactly where this
herp paradise can be found.
Posted at 12:11 pm Read More Tue - April 24, 2007Vipers are home loving the world overLast week I promised I would be going back to take
another look for herptiles in Uganda’s Mabira forest. This is a fairly
topical thing to do as on 12th April there were riots in Kampala sparked by the
threatened sale of 700 acres of this reserve for planting sugar cane. This cost
five people their lives and many injured (see BBC news story
here). So it was in a spirit of solidarity that I set forth as an
eco-tourist.
Posted at 07:21 pm Read More Sun - April 22, 2007Bredhurst Field Day (14/4/07)The weather was sunny and about 25 combined KRAG
and BWAG members plus a dog turned up for the Bredhurst event. Vanessa Jones did
great job enthusing local support.
Posted at 10:02 am Read More Mon - April 16, 2007Hi from Uganda – I think mine is a lot bigger than yours!Sorry to say I missed the KRAG Bredhurst adder
outing and instead am in Uganda for three weeks work. So instead of Bredhurst I
took off with some German friends to the Mabira forest not far from the shores
of Lake Victoria. The idea was to check out the local wildlife but after three
hours of walking I had seen a lot of nice trees, some very amorous slugs, plenty
of ants and not much else.
Posted at 06:02 pm Read More Sun - April 1, 2007Lullingstone: but not for Bill’s Golf!The Kent Country Parks at Trosley and Lullingstone
have recently taken the initiative to ask KRAG to help start formal reptile
monitoring with a view to better conservation management. A refuge survey was
initiated on 14th March at Trosley and its associated site at Preston Hill; on
Wednesday (28/3/07) it was the turn of Lullingstone.
Posted at 11:04 am Read More Sat - March 17, 2007PrestonA quick report from a survey visit to Preston that
took place on Wednesday 14th March 2007.
Posted at 09:06 am Read More Fri - March 16, 2007SiNGLE MALE FROG. DESPERATELY SEEKING...WELL, ANYTHING REALLYI was accompanied tonight at a private residence in
Frittenden by four participants in the Great
Crested Newt Monitoring Project and two local Pond
Wardens.
Posted at 08:11 am Read More Sun - March 4, 2007Weardale joins 'Adders in Decline'On Saturday, Paul Naden a warden at the Chartwell
Estate and KRAG members Nick Johnson and Rick Hodges clambered aboard a National
Trust Land Rover to lay refuges on the Weardale Estate. This was a contribution
to the Adders in
Decline Project and an extension of the current survey work being
undertaken in the grounds of the Chartwell Estate.
Posted at 04:38 pm Read More Sun - February 11, 2007Preston Management TaskThe weather was a little unpredictable but a few
hardy KRAG members managed to take time out and lend a hand at a recently
re-discovered adder site near Preston. The site was previously a reservoir which
supplied water to the nearby gravel extraction site that is now a beautiful
lakeland area.
Posted at 06:03 pm Read More Mon - February 5, 2007Kingswood Management TaskThe first management task of 2007 got underway in
Kent yesterday (4/2/07) with a group meeting at Kingswood.
Posted at 04:26 pm Read More Tue - January 16, 2007ChartwellDuring November/December Chartwell warden Paul
Naden and his team of volunteers have been busy reducing shade vegetation at
seven locations on the Chartwell estate where this would help improve
biodiversity. Some of the cleared areas are adjacent to paths others are patches
within denser vegetation. The team have also built brash piles to provide cover
and sunning sites for adders. Five of the seven locations were monitored last
year and supported reptiles until they became too shaded. All locations will be
monitored for the next few years to observe the benefits of reducing shade. It
is anticipated that the monitoring results will help guide further vegetation
management.
Posted at 04:20 pm Read More Sun - October 8, 2006Chartwell MonitoringChartwell Warden Paul Naden with KRAG members Nick
Johnson and Rick Hodges reviewed progress on a walk around the monitoring site.
Although a sunny day, there was not a lot about but we did see a slow-worm under
one refuge and an adder that had climbed up about 75 cm onto bracken to sun
itself.
Posted at 10:51 am Read More Sun - September 17, 2006KRAG field day at BedgeburyEarlier today, a ten-strong group were led around
Bedgebury Pinetum
and adjacent forest by Ranger Steve Peters. The objective of this scoping visit
was to identify areas that next year could be selected for a reptile survey.
The weather was ideal with intermittent sun and temperatures in the low twenties
and it wasn’t long before Ken Plume had spotted his first common lizard.
This was followed by several more as the group got their ‘eye in’
and by the end of the morning a juvenile slow worm, a grass snake, a common frog
and a pond with great crested newt larvae were added to the list.
Posted at 09:33 pm Read More Tue - August 15, 2006Martens GroveMark Taylor of Bexley Council contacted us after a
local resident reported that, whilst walking in Martens Grove in Bexleyheath, a
snake had bitten her dog. The vet had discovered two closely spaced puncture
wounds and a sample taken had confirmed that the resulting inflammation of the
dog’s leg was most likely caused by snake venom!
Posted at 11:03 am Read More |
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About This Weblog
This site contains news, announcements and reports concerning the conservation of reptiles and amphibians in the English county of Kent.
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KRAG organises a full programme of events throughout the year. For more details about forthcoming attractions, visit the KRAG web site. If you would like to attend any of the planned events or simply join us on one of our wild excursions please email KRAG! Click on the graphic below to find out what else is happening in Kent.
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Total entries in this category: Published On: Oct 01, 2007 10:54 am |