Thrace in May 2016

[Thor Hakonsen]

We are 3-4 norwegians travelling to Thrace for the first time in the beginning of may this year.

As this is the first time we go to this part of Greece, all hints and tips is much appreciated. Our top priority would be to observe and (for me) photograph the Ottomans Viper. But off course V.ammodytes would also be interesting !

There should also be S.salamandra in the forests above Alexandropoulis ?

(in short, evertyhing herptilian is interesting)

I also read that some of the others guys (Jeroen or Bobby ?) got problems with the police when being in the border areas.. Any ideas of specieal areas to avoid ? Or just unlucky ?

best regards,
Thor Håkonsen

[Rob Andriessen]

Dear Thor,

I visited Thrace 2 years ago. My friend Maykel made a report of the trip: http://maykelfieldreports.blogspot.nl/2 ... -2014.html

We found S. salamandra near Stavroupoli (is that still Thrace?), not near Alexandroupoli (but we focused more on reptiles). I saw one Ottoman viper, somewhere in a field east of Alexandroupoli, and no ammodytes. You will find herp densities to be quite high (especially tortoises but also Malpolon insignitus, Typhlops vermicularis).

Make sure you arrange a permit beforehand when you plan to visit the Evros delta and make sure you're out before dark, then you'll be fine. We encountered no problems (and usually we do run into problems on these trips) but I guess things are a litte bit more tense right now (a lot has changed for the worse in two years...). We hiked up to the Bulgarian border and that was no problem (Bulgarian border guards on the other side of the fence were a bit surprised and wouldn't let us cross though), but again, things may have changed since then. Personally I liked the area around the Nestos river up to the Bulgarian border more than the far east (less desolate, nicer towns, nicer scenery and in our case more herps) but no Ottoman vipers there of course.

All in all it's a great area, even if you don't see herps. I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[Thor Hakonsen]

Thanks Rob,

That is much appreciated!

So it is only in the Evros-delta a permit is needed ? Where will you get this permition ?

[Thor Hakonsen]

Just to be clear - I'm not expecting anyone to give us gps-spots for locations. But hints and tips on biotops and general areas would be very much appreciated.

[GertJan Verspui]

We got arrested because we were in that area at night, during the day it was full with greek families having bbq's and drinking mythos beers...but I still found E. sauromates

Don't forget Dadia forest. Love that area and Salamandra there!
Have fun Thor, you will like it!

http://gjv-natureview.jimdo.com/trip-re ... ce-5-2013/

all info about the police story included.

[Rob Andriessen]

As far as I remember you don't need other permits. But it would be wise to stay at least one km away from the border with Turkey I guess.

you can get a permit by sending an email with id data and the dates you plan to visit the delta to info@evros-delta.gr. Afterwards you can collect it at the visitor centre in the delta. May take a while so arrange it well in advance.

Dump sites are of course good spots, but in Thrace they were even more rewarding than elsewhere in my opinion. Almost every dumpsite had at least one snake when we were there. Be aware though that on many of those dump sites people leave their puppies to die (at least when we were there), which is really sad.

[Thor Hakonsen]

Thanks again Gert-Jan and Rob!

Dadia Forest is duly noted - should we drive to the town of Dadia and find spots along the road through the forest ?

I've sent a mail to Evros-delta.gr with an enquiry to what is necessary

[Bobby Bok]

Nothing to add to GJ, don't go at night into certain areas of Evros. By day it should be fine but I'm not sure how that situation is developing now.

Dadia forest is great and harbours so many different habitats and species. Indeed driving down through the forests and looking for suitable spots would be best. Any stream in deciduous forest could be ok for Fire Salamander yet I have the feeling they are not as widely distributed as in other parts of Europe. Then again, that might have also been the season.

[Thor Hakonsen]

Thanks for the input all - very much appreciated.

Does anyone have a general area tip for V.ammodytes around there ?