Ursinii in Hungary

[Paul Lambourne]

Hello all,

Just back from a quick dash to Hungary to liaise with the very cool chaps at the Hungarian viper project.. I wont bore you with the details as I know a great many of you have been there.. I will just say a huge thanks to the chaps for their hospitality and for the fabulous opportunity of seeing both the captive and wild ursinii.

new born ursinii

ursinii portrait

stunning female

wild ursinii feeding

Lycosa Tarantula

in the grounds of the conservation area were several other herps and interesting insects..

bombina unken reflex

the ubiquitous marsh frog

stunning individual

surf1.jpg (51.67 KiB) Viewed 4460 times

On the way home I popped into Slovenia and was lucky enough to find salamandra atra..

beautiful viridis

surf110.jpg (95 KiB) Viewed 4454 times

ID anyone

A lovely little trip, sadly probably the last foreign trip for me this year.. huge thanks to Balint, Thomas and Erika for all their kind help and knowledge. I am planning trips to Spain/Portugal, Peleponese and Corsica next year if anybody is interested in teaming up...

Cheers Paul

[Tim Leerschool]

Hi Paul,

I recognize the conservation program but regret I still did visit their great work. Some friends of mine had the same experience there! Fantastic work and fantastic vipers!

I really like the 2 juvenile vipers! Always great to see some new young.

Greetings,

Tim

[Ilian Velikov]

Nice photos, Paul! You had luck with that wild feeding ursinii!

The catterpilar is Hyles euphorbiae !

[Jürgen Gebhart]

The pic with the two babies is great!! But I think the best is the feeding pic!!

[Paul Lambourne]

Chaps,

Thanks for the kind comments and ID... much appreciated as always

Cheers Paul

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

Hmmmmmm... Those Hungarian ursinii is something I'd like to do someday too. Is there tauricus or Ablepharus in that area too? Also have no clue if it would easily be fitted into a trip that also hits the caspius spots. Anyone?
How 'easy' is it to find wild ursinii there?

[Mario Schweiger]

Jeroen,
tauricus is around the breeding house, also L. viridis, L. agilis, Coronella austriaca, Hyla arborea.
And in their "new" ditches also Emys and Bombina - at least, what we have seen.
Also some interesting plants too!

Richard will start to get crazy, if he will see this pic online again!

Ablepharus I dont know, never seen.
To the Dolichophis its about 2 hours driving.
To see ursinii in the wild: Should be possible! We allways have been lucky, also newborns in autumn.
....and Balints actress female is a great one, since many years!

Mario

[Bobby Bok]

Really love the stunning female portrait!

[Martti Niskanen]

Nice report, Paul. Not too much into jelly lizards, but the well done with the Salamandra.

[Grégoire Meier]

Nice observations!