Well done with the Smooth Snakes! Always happy to see some Coronella. Haven`t seen one yet in 2010, and so your post convinced me to go out in search of them next weekend. Fingers crossed.

Oh, and the Slow-worm herp in habitat type shot was my favorite.

Later,
Vlad 

nice observations!
Liam is an expert on those places :-) 

Thanks to both of you!:)

>Liam is an expert on those places :-)
Yes,he really is! 

I'm surprised to see that you found so many smooth snakes in these conditions, I never find them when the temperatures are high and the sun is shining. Yesterday it was a rather warm day here in the Netherlands and I found many adders and many grass snakes but only one small individual smooth snake, this is always the case here when the sun is shining. But nice finds! 

Looks like a very good day, I agree with Bobby,strange that there were so many smooth snakes, but very nice! 

Bobby/Gertjan, On monitoring sites for Coronella austriaca they use “tins” sheets of metal to help record numbers!
You wouldn’t normally see them out on sunny days.
Nice report Ilian:-)
 

:) Tony gave it up! Yes,these were found under thin but still we were lucky because the thins were pretty hot! I don't think one has a big chance of seeing Smooth Snakes out in the open even in good conditions! The ones I've found back in Bulgaria were all under some kind of cover even in cloudy days!To see them wondering around would be a great luck,I think. 

I think the smooth snakes like to be hot compared to a lot of our (few) reptiles, but even more than being warm they like to remain hidden. In the UK we find them under tins at much higher temperatures than our other reptile species. I have seen them basking in the open on a few occasions, but only either very early in the morning when the sun is weak, or in the early spring when they have just emerged from hibernation and the cooler temperature forces them out in the open. Grass snakes and smooth snakes will both use tins in warmer weather, grass snakes on top, smooth snakes underneath.

Thanks to Ilian for coming out an giving me a hand, sorry about the lack of adders... Next time hopefully. 

Liam,it was my pleasure! Although,having in mind that I didn't catch a single lizard and kept mixing up my fishing line,I wasn't of much help..rather more like pain in the ass :) 

Other times when Coronella can be outside: late summer, sometimes we find aggregations of females laying together. Then, in september, they are suddenly all gone, with tens of babies in return. Also, if there's a cloudy day (maybe even with thunderstorm coming up), they can be encountered outside. Etc... 

Even rainy days are good! I found a few last summer on a dark grey day without any sun but maybe 4 hours of soft rain. The rain was enough to wet me through my rainjacket and even my t-shirt became wet! I didn´t expected any snakes so my camera was too deep in my backpack.

That was a day maybe only pro herpers would look for snakes.
I really thought this weather would be too bad! I just was out at this day to show someone a few locations. Not a single gravid berus was out that day (at least the ones I knew ;-D

smooth snakes rock! 

Hi Ilian, even though dorset is the land of the sand lizard and the smooth snake, i think you done a great job! Your right about them liking it hot, flipping pieces of tin and debris is always sure to come up with something! 

I hear there are also colonies of wall lizards now living in dorset, did you see any? 

Like Daniel, I also recall some Coronella (in Belgium but also in Greece) being out during rain or drizzle. 

Yes,I've found them in rainy weather in Bulgaria,too!
Ken,yes there are Wall Lizards and Western Green Lizards in Dorset but I think they are further south from where we were!