Lizards Emerge at Plymbridge Woods

Common lizards are creeping out from their winter homes and basking in the sunshine. Juveniles and mature lizards need to warm their cold-blooded bodies because they’ve been hibernating since October. A female common lizard (pictured) tends to have stripes and males are spottier. They come in a variety of colours, from black to brown and green.

When you hear a rustle in the autumn leaves you might think it’s a mouse or a wren, but it could well be a lizard on the hunt. As Spring arrives, so does their food supply. Common lizards eat small insects, usually flies, spiders and other invertebrates such as centipedes, worms and small snails. They tend not to eat black insects such as beetles. Common lizards use regular feeding routes so if you spot one it’s worth going back to see if you can find it again. The lizards here have plenty of predators to worry about: foxes, hawks, crows and jays.

Common lizards are active between mid-March and the end of September. April and May is the peak time for mating and some males will change the colour of their skin to bright blue-green to attract a female. The young will be born in July and August. During the summer, lizards don’t need to bask for long so this is the best time to go out and find them. On a warm and sunny day they can be found throughout the UK, in open woodland habitats like Plymbridge Woods. (Photograph taken by Lucy Tozer, Long-term Volunteer.)