Common Lizards in the dunes

Today a few members of Fylde ARG joined a guided walk to look for the Common, or Viviparous, Lizards at Lytham St Anne's Nature Reserve.

A bright, sunny morning meant the lizards were already quite warm and alert. We found a few in a favoured location of which this photo was the best of the few taken.

Common Lizards are still fairly common along the Fylde coast generally favouring the sand dune areas. They are also found on some of the golf courses just inland of the dunes and we know of one site in Blackpool away from the coast. It is possible there is at last one other inland site in Blackpool as we have had unconfirmed reports in the recent past.

A look on the NBN Gateway map shows an absence in the rest of the Fylde; is this a true reflection of the animal's distribution or just a lack of observer records? If you have found Common lizards away from the coast in the last 20 years please let us know at the address in the sidebar.