Guess what I found!

The Summer assignment packs from uni have arrived ( YAY!) and so, to make a start on one of the photography sections, yesterday we went out for a drive round, looking for the 'rural landscapes' that make up part of one of the projects.  As I've only just started on these, I'll save the blog about them for later - this is about a chance spotting of one of Britain's protected species - and a creature I haven't spotted in the wild since I was maybe 11 or 12 years old.

I was absolutely thrilled to find this little fellow, in the long grass and leaf litter, at the foot of a supporting stone pillar of a bridge, just outside of Corwen.

Its a slow worm - which is not a snake, but a limbless reptile - a lizard in fact .  This wee fellow was about 10" long, and very docile - although I was wary of actually picking him (or her ? ) up, in case of harming/scaring it, It allowed me to get incredibly close, and even stroke it gently, without moving away or showing any signs of fear.  Beautiful creature, soft and quite warm to the touch, and a lovely 'coppery brown' colour, with bright black eyes and a tiny forked tongue darting in and out.

I really enjoy it when I am lucky enough to get the chance to see and photograph different types of wildlife - but being as (in my experience) spotting creatures like this is a rare event, I am feeling very lucky to have made the acquaintance of this little chap on my travels .