NE England Reptile Atlas 2008

8/11/2019 NE England Reptile Atlas 2008

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Reptile Atlas

of North-East England.January 2008

Produced byJ L Durkin MSc. MIEEM

[email protected]


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Introduction to the atlas, credits, conventions.

The species covered are the four native reptile species found in this area,

Grass Snake, Adder, Slowworm and Common or Viviparous Lizard. SandLizard has been introduced several times in the past, to the Northumberlandand Teesmouth dunes, but appears not to survive. Sea Turtles nettedoffshore are covered.Escapes of more exotic species are regularly recorded, mainly Red-earedTerrapins. Terrapins will be mapped in a later edition. Escaped or releasedsnakes include Dice Snakes, Tessellated Snakes, King Snakes, IndianPythons and out-of-place Adders. The exotics are sometimes reported asnative species, usually as Grass Snakes.

The area covered is North-East England, the modern counties of

Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and Tees Valley, plus the part ofNorth Yorkshire adjacent to Tees Valley. The data is sparser in northNorthumberland and in Yorkshire.

The records.All available records, about 1000, have been considered and compiled, fromRecorder, from the Durham BAP 2005 survey and from several individualsrecords. Keith Cunningham has processed much of the data that is held onRecorder. A large number of people have recorded the North-easts reptiles.The most prolific recorder has been Gordon Simpson.

The text and compilationThe records were compiled and the text written by John Durkin.

The artworkThe reptile illustrations reproduced here were drawn by the late Dave Greenin the 1980s for a survey of the Countys reptiles organised by the North EastReptile and Amphibian Group.

The mapsThe maps were drawn using Mapmate, the recording system onto which thedata have been compiled. Tees Valley/North Yorkshire, Durham andNorthumberland distributions appear on separate maps, with separateaccounts.The records appear as round dots in two kilometre tetrads. Main areas ofdistribution are indicated by coloured polygons.Where records are doubtful or very old, this is indicated in the text.


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ConservationThis Atlas is intended as an aid to the conservation of our reptiles. Some areparticularly vulnerable to changes in land use, especially the grass snakes atGibside and at Fontburn and the coastal populations of slowworms andcommon lizards.

Planning and Development SearchesPlanning applications for changes in land use such as wind turbines or opencast mining within the coloured polygons which indicate the main distributionareas should include a suitable reptile survey, assessment and mitigation.Outside of the coloured areas, reptiles are less likely to occur, but should besurveyed for if there is suitable habitat.Suitable habitat in North East England includes disused quarries and railways;heathland; rough grassland; coastal habitats such as cliffs and sand dunes;scrub and open woodland; archaeological features such as dry stone walls,Hadrians Wall and Finchale Abbey; and, in the case of grass snakes, ponds

and riverbanks.

UseUse for conservation and planning purposes is welcomed. The source shouldbe acknowledged.

This At las is dedicated to Dave Green,who pioneered the study of amphibian and reptile

distribution in North-east England


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Adder, Vipera berus

95% of records with dates are between 1stApril and 4thSeptember.

Adder: Tees Valley and North YorkshireAdders are well distributed on the North Yorkshire moors, with many recordsbetween x and y reservoirs. Most of these records are from Graham Skinnerswork in the mid-1990s. The North York Moors population is probably far morewidespread than is indicated by the map.The Hartlepool record is an escape from captivity. The isolated Saltburnrecord needs further investigation.


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Adder: DurhamAdders are mainly found at mid-altitude moorland and afforested sites inCounty Durham, the general range indicated in colour on the map. This isextrapolated into Lunedale and the Greta, where there are similar habitats butrecording is much thinner. Hamsterley Forest provides the large proportion of

the records, over one third. Most of these coloured-area tetrad dots representmultiple records.There is a small isolated population lower down the Derwent valley, at Gibside,but no records from the apparently more suitable Chopwell Woods. A singlerecord from Hedleyhope Fell, just east of the main distribution, needsconfirmation. The two coastal records are almost certainly escapes fromcaptivity.West of the main distribution, there are no records from the upper dales andmoors.


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Adder: Northumberland

The main distribution is in the uplands from Hadrians Wall to the Kyloe Hills.There is a smaller area south of the Tyne Valley, in the Allendale and DevilsWater fells area.

The isolated record in NU11 is Lemmington Hall, several records in the 1920s,but none since then.


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Grass Snake, Natrix natr ix

95% of dated records are between 15thMay and15thSeptember, the shortestseason of our four reptile species.

Grass Snake: Tees Valley and North Yorkshire

There is only a single record, from Thorpe Bulmer Dene in 1961. It issurprising that this southern species is so scarce in the south of the region.


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Grass Snake; Durham.Grass Snakes are our rarest reptiles, at the northernmost edge of their Britishdistribution. The main population, with two thirds of the records, is in the lowerDerwent Valley, centred on the Gibside Estate, now owned by the NationalTrust. There is a nearby or possibly continuous area of distribution in the

Team Valley.Recent records from the Wear Valley, indicated on the map, are currentlybeing investigated. The other, isolated dots on the map are mainly old recordsor doubtful records.In recent years, visitor numbers at Gibside have increased enormously, andthis is causing severe disturbance to grass snake feeding and basking areas.There are currently two SITA Trust funded conservation projects operating toimprove habitat conditions for the Derwent Valley populations.


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Grass Snake: Northumberland

There are two certain sites in Northumberland, at Fontburn Reservoir and inthe Derwent Valley. The Northumberland Derwent Valley records are part of

the population based mainly on the Durham side of the river. There are anumber of old records from the Wooler area. The Warkworth record (NU20) isa very old one, and the Brenkley (NZ27) record may have been an escapedexotic species.The split distribution of records is reminiscent of the map for Slow Worm.


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Slow Worm, Anguis f ragilis

95% of dated records are between 15thApril and 10thSeptember.

Slow Worm: Tees Valley and North Yorkshire

There are two areas of distribution, in the north where the Durham coastpopulation extends south to Crimdon Dene (a single dot on this map) and inthe coastal and upland areas of Redcar and Cleveland.The North York Moors population is probably far more widespread than isindicated by the map.


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Slow Worm: DurhamSlow-worms have two areas of distribution in Durham, the main one at mid-altitude moorland and afforested sites in the west of the county, and a smallerarea along the coast. The main distribution follows the river valleys towardsthe west of the county, but does not reach the highest moors. The map shows

this area extrapolated into Lunedale and the Greta valley, where there aresimilar habitats but recording is much thinner. Hamsterley Forest has thelargest proportion of the records, over one third.The coast population is based around Hawthorn, Castle Eden and Crimdondenemouths, and is vulnerable to extinction.


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Slow Worm: Northumberland

The main distribution is south of the Tyne Valley, with a curious gap with onlysparse records north of the Tyne. There is then another cluster of records inthe Kyloe Hills area.


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Common or Viviparous Lizard, Lacerta vivipara

95% of dated records are between 1stApril and 30thSeptember, the longestseason of our four reptile species.

Common Lizard: Tees Valley and North Yorkshire

There are three areas of distribution:- The Crimdon coast area, which is the southern extension of the

Durham coast population. Teesmouth, where lizards are found on sand dunes and industrial

waste ground on both sides of the river. The upland area of Redcar and Cleveland.

There is little evidence of a coastal population in the east of Redcar andCleveland, though this seems to be a likely habitat.The North York Moors population is probably far more widespread than isindicated by the map.


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Common Lizard: DurhamOur most widespread reptile, most records are from the mid-altitude moors,bogs and afforested areas, particularly Hamsterley Forest, which provides10% of the records. There is also a population on the coastal cliffs and denemouths, with most recent records at the southern end (compare with slow-

worm). These two areas are coloured on the map, extrapolated into Lunedaleand the Greta, where there are similar habitats but recording is much thinner.Most of these coloured-area tetrad dots represent multiple records.

Unlike adder and slow-worm, there are a number of lowland records, from amixture of habitats including disused limestone quarries, disused sandquarries, disused railways, and lowland heaths. There are some urbanrecords such as on disused railway tracks in Darlington. Some of these areold records with no modern update. Unlike adder and slow-worm, there aresporadic records from the highest parts of the county.


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Common Lizard: Northumberland

The most widespread reptile in Northumberland. Unlike Slow Worm, there arerecords in the North Tyne and Simonside Hills areas. There are also a smallnumber of lowland records, from disused railways and heathy areas, and, as

in Durham, a coastal population. The coastal population may be much morecontinuous than is illustrated by the dots on the map. Some individuals onsand dune habitats here are quite green in colour and can be mistaken forSand Lizards.


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Sand Lizard, Lacerta agilisSand Lizards may have been released at various points on Northumberlandssand dunes and on both sides of the river at Teesmouth at several times, butappear not to have survived for very long. The North-east coast probably has

summers that are too short for this species to breed successfully.Inland records, of which there are several, are almost certainly mistakes forCommon Lizard.Coastal common lizards photographed by Derek Hornsby at Annstead Dunesin 2007 showed remarkably large, green specimens.

Hawks Bill Turtle, Eretmochelys imbricataOne was caught in fishing nets off the mouth of the Coquet in 1852, exhibitedat Berwick, and later sent to London.

Leathery Turt le, Dermochelys cor iacea

One was caught in the nets of the fishing boat Avail off Berwickshire,Scotland, in October 1980, and landed at Eyemouth. It was taken by lorry toOban aquarium and later released.

Red-eared Terrapin, Trachemys scriptaReleased as unwanted pets, up to 100 of these North American terrapinshave been recorded at a number of easily accessible, urban ponds. Theysurvive well, hibernating successfully and living for many years. A female wasfound laying eggs at Shibdon Pond in Gateshead Borough. They are known tobreed in Denmark and in the Netherlands, but not in Britain.

Documents

NE England Reptile Atlas 2008