This morning, I had my annual
early spring visit to Benfleet
and Hadleigh Downs.
This large hilly
area comprising a mosaic of grassland, scrub and light woodland runs down
to grazing marsh and the seawall and saltmarsh alongside Benfleet Creek. There
are spectacular views of the Thames estuary down to Southend and across to
Kent.
The main purpose of my
visit was to hopefully see and photograph Adders again. I
have previously been successful at this site in 3 out of 4 of my previous
visits but not on my visit during 2022.
Firstly, a bit
about Adders ….
Adders have an
ill-deserved reputation. Yes, they are the UK's only venomous reptile but they
are very wary of any disturbance and invariably sense our presence and slither
away long before we see them. They are very timid and they will only bite
in self-defence (for example during attempted capture and handling or
when antagonised) or through accidental encounters such as being
inadvertently stepped on.
Whilst Adders bite
hundreds of people every year in the UK causing some nasty side effects, only
14 fatalities have been recorded since 1876 and none since 1975. Therefore,
deaths from Adder bites are significantly rarer than
deaths as a result of wasp or bee stings. Dogs are much more vulnerable to
a very serious health reaction or death arising from a bite although
fortunately the only dogs that I saw were all under the control of their owners
and on a lead.
Adders demonstrate
obvious sexual dimorphism. Males typically have black markings against an
off-white or silver-grey background with a steel-grey underside. In the
breeding season, males can show an almost bluish tinge. Females typically have
dark brown markings against a light brown or straw-coloured background with a
dull brown underside. Females are considerably larger (50cm to 70cm in length)
than males (40cm to 55cm in length).
However, both sexes are
variable in appearance and individuals of various shades of brown, grey and
brick-red plus wholly black melanistic individuals have been recorded. Both
sexes also show the characteristic and diagnostic dorsal zig-zag pattern along
the length of the upper body (black in males and brown in females) and red eyes
with a vertical pupil.
Benfleet
and Hadleigh Downs covers a large area so I deliberately focused on a
location where I had seen Adders in previous years. During
my slow, quiet and repeated walk in that area for over an hour, I had no sightings of any Adders!
Maybe it is still too
early for Adders to emerge from their hibernacula (although they have been
reported at various locations in Essex already) but the conditions were
suitable with sunshine and temperatures around 12°C to 13°C.
I wasn’t too
disappointed since there will be other opportunities during March and April to visit the location again.
Photo: typical Adder habitat at Benfleet and Hadleigh Downs
With regard to birds,
my visit to Benfleet
and Hadleigh Downs provided sightings of the usual expected woodland/parkland birds but also more notably Common Buzzard
(3 males soaring on thermals), Chiffchaff (10 singing males heard
including 1 seen), Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 seen plus 2 “drumming” males
heard), Curlew (several birds heard calling distantly from Benfleet
Creek).
Photo: Common Buzzard
Photo: Common Buzzard
Photo: Common Buzzards
Photo: Common Buzzards
I also recorded some of
my first butterfly species of 2025: Comma (5), Peacock (2), and Brimstone
(1). In addition, I saw my first Dark-edged Bee-fly of 2025 and 2 Red Admirals.
Photo: Comma
Photo: Comma
Photo: Dark-edged Bee-fly
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