Country diary: The first lizard of the year | Sara Hudston

Brendon Common, Exmoor, Devon: It's sunny on the moor, the rising temperature waking the reptilesA wriggle in the grass - something scampering, body curving, tail undulating from side to side. Start, stop and off again into the heather, its slim, twiggy shape mimicking the plant stems. A lizard, the first of the year.It's sunny on the moor and by mid-afternoon the south side of Shilstone Hill has warmed, stones absorbing heat and releasing it into the peat like thousands of small granite radiators. The rising temperature has brought humans out on to the moor as well as other creatures - a gaggle of teenagers carrying rucksacks, walkers with dogs, and my group on horseback. Our mounts' hooves squish through patches of mire, printing muddy hoops into the green. March was unusually wet, and even the high ground is sodden. Continue reading...