Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

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Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Thomas Reich » Sun Feb 28, 2016 11:36 pm

In spring 2015 I have been to the Region of Murcia. This is not a wordy trip report, but I thought I'd share some pictures.

My main goal was to find the endemic species of that area. This proved to be quite easy thanks to favourable weather conditions during the first days of the week. In contrast, the second half was characterised by heat with temperatures up to 36°C, which lowered the findings drastically. Thanks to the authors of several online trip reports and Matt Wilson for valuable hints.

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First, I explored a pine forest at the sea south of Alicante, but failed to find a single herp species.

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Shy european rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) were common, be it alive or DOR.


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I normally don't catch lizards. For this big ocellated lizard (Timon nevadensis) I made an exeption. I waited for 10 minutes sitting motionless down on my knees for the lizard to close his mouth completely. You see the unsatisfactory result.


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It was not amused. :roll:


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Juvenile ladder snake (Rhinechis scalaris)


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Landscape near Rincon de los huertos.


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Catalonian wall lizard (Podarcis liolepis), according to expert Peter Oefinger


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Booted eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus) right after catching a pigeon.


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During daytime I checked the area to find potential breeding ponds for Alytes dickhilleni.


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Habitat of Pelophylax perezi, Alytes dickhilleni and Salamandra salamandra.


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Tadpole of Alytes dickhilleni, if I am not mistaken. Please correct me.


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Western spadefoot (Pelobates cultripes)... (EDIT: or Hyla sp.?)


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...found in this pond.


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Countryside


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Nice platanus alley in Riópar.


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After dark I found myself in the middle of dozens of calling midwife toads. Wow! I missed the spawn handover only by seconds (picture ca. 1 minute later).


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Spanish algyroides (Algyroides marchi) on the lookout.


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Same animal. I was able to find Algyroides marchi at several random stops.


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Podarcis virescens in sympatry.


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Ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus)


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Endless olive desert to the northwest of the Sierra de Cazorla.


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What the fox!


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Brooks are always good places to find viperine snakes.


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Another one at at different place.


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Always a nice find: iberian worm lizard (Blanus cinereus) at the source of Guadalquivir river.


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On the way back to the coast: Psammodromus edwarsianus (EDIT: it's in fact P. hispanicus, see below)


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Podarcis hispanicus near Huéscar.


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What to do in the suffocating heat of Murcia?


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a) Photograph a shy and nicely coloured Timon nevadensis on the road.


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b) Go to the beach and search for spiny-footed lizard (Acanthodactylus erythrurus)


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c) Wait for the night in order...


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...to have the luck to find false smooth snake(Macroprotodon brevis)


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Lots of Hemidactylus turcicus were out, too.

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All in all, it was a great one-week trip with much more findings than I could show.
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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Andre Schmid » Mon Feb 29, 2016 5:30 am

Hello Thomas,

thanks for showing this nice photos ! Those big Timons are impressive and very beautiful :). Thanks for sharing !
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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Mon Feb 29, 2016 12:13 pm

Lovely!

That's a dickhilleni larva indeed.

((Other may be Hyla rather than Pelobates, but I'm not sure.))
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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Peter Oefinger » Mon Feb 29, 2016 1:03 pm

Nice!
It seems to me that Timon nevadensis is much shyer than lepidus. There are very few good in situ shots (I only photographed adults with that open mouth :evil: ) - Any other who have experiences with that?

About the Psammodromus: Looks like hispanicus to me, but hard to say from the picture. Do you have a crop of the head?

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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Matthieu Berroneau » Mon Feb 29, 2016 1:18 pm

Congrats for this trip. nevandensis is really a beautiful lizard...
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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Mario Schweiger » Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:30 pm

great shots, Thomas,

the nevadensis looks great ;)
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Please visit also my personal Herp-site vipersgarden.at
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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Thomas Reich » Mon Feb 29, 2016 9:57 pm

Thank you for the comments and the much appreciated remarks concerning species identification.

Peter Oefinger wrote:About the Psammodromus: Looks like hispanicus to me, but hard to say from the picture. Do you have a crop of the head?

Interesting! As a layperson I didn't even think about that this could be something else than edwarsianus :oops:. The lizard was found here: 38° 8'9.63"N 2°41'2.19"W at 1400 m a.s.l.

Here's a crop:
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And here's an in situ shot of the nevadensis I caught.
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As I got closer, I remarked that the lizard obviously didn't have a place to retreat. Luckily the heavy-bodied reptile was slower than I was :P .
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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Peter Oefinger » Mon Feb 29, 2016 11:17 pm

Ps. hispanicus: no supralabial under subocular.
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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Thomas Reich » Tue Mar 01, 2016 10:45 am

Thanks Peter! I learned something.
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Re: Some pictures from the Region of Murcia

Postby Jürgen Gebhart » Tue Mar 01, 2016 12:18 pm

very nice!
Like the eagle shot! Cool!!!
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