Cold and wet in Madrid

Portugal, Spain, Andorra

Cold and wet in Madrid

Postby Kevin Byrnes » Mon Apr 11, 2016 11:56 pm

After reading a trip report from a few years ago and using a few clues from photos along with checking google earth for likely spots we decided to visit the Madrid area. A family funeral meant our visit was limited to 2 days but we booked anyway and hoped to come back with ten new ticks.The weather forecast changed from sun to rain everyday with the temperature dropping so it looked like we would have to focus on amphibians with any reptiles as a bonus.
Sunday 3rd.
Due to French air traffic controllers our flight was delayed by an hour and so we finally arrived in Madrid at 11am. The weather seemed ok and so we headed for an area north west of Madrid where V latastei had been found, however it was very grey and cold when we arrived and the temperature had dropped to 5 degrees c so after a quick walk in the rain turning lots of stones we drove a few miles to visit some ponds.
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I had a walk around the ponds hoping to spot T pygmaeus or P waltl but found nothing and turning a few stones gave a similar result. We had to meet the owner of the rental apartment in Madrid and so left the ponds deciding to get some sleep and return here the next evening with a torch. As we drove along I spotted a pile of old doors by the roadside and so we quickly stopped the car and started turning them over, as I reached for the last one I spotted the tail of a large snake slide back under. I looked up at Suzanne with a huge smile on my face and said "Montpellier". I had only ever found small juvenile Montpellies before. I lifted the door to reveal a beautiful 2 mtr snake and luckily it was very cold and sluggish.
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The boards were replaced and the snake released back and we continued to Madrid with smiles on our faces. The snake certainly made up for our earlier failure.We arrived in the city to find the the apartment that Suzanne had booked was in fact a room in someones apartment. We spent the evening walking around town and visiting a Mexican restaurant.
Monday 4th
We drove out of town for an hour in the pouring rain to visit some ponds I had spotted on Google earth. The rain eased off as we arrived and after pausing to admire some graffitti we began to explore the site finding a lizard under the first stone turned, this was the only lizard of the trip.

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I rolled my trousers up and walked through the shallow pond with a net looking for newts but still nothing was found.
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We carried on walking and turning things over and soon found this B spinosus beneath a log

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Suzanne moved the next log and shouted "Snake", I ran over to see the coil of a small M monspessulanus

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I flipped a fallen bench to reveal another toad and then a rotted tree trunk gave a N maura

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We were almost back at the car when I spotted a bird I had not seen before so took a quick shot to identify later.
Woodchat shrike Lanius senator
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I turned a piece of concrete to reveal what I thought was just another toad but then it looked at me and I thought "That's not right", a quick rinse in a puddle showed it to be a Natterjack toad E calamita

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A quick stop at a local church with 11 stork nests on the roof and then we headed for yesterdays location.
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It was still light when we arrived so we had a walk up the valley in the rain turning stones but once again finding nothing except a small herd of Red deer C elaphus

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We drove back to the ponds and sat for three hours in the car until it got dark, walked to the pond waded into the water , switched the torch on only to watch the batteries die. We had another torch but Suzanne had left it behind in Madrid :oops: :roll: :( .
Tuesday 5th
We awoke to a beautiful sunny day but no time to go and look for anything before our flight. A quick stop at the cafe in the park for breakfast where we could watch the Monk Parakeets flying around and building their huge nests and that was the end of our trip.
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Kevin Byrnes
 
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Re: Cold and wet in Madrid

Postby Peter Oefinger » Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:11 am

Congrats - cool Montpellier snake!
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Re: Cold and wet in Madrid

Postby Bobby Bok » Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:35 pm

These weather conditions remind me a lot of our NW Spain trip in 2012... Still cool you found such a big and beautiful Malpolon!
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Re: Cold and wet in Madrid

Postby Paul Lambourne » Tue Apr 12, 2016 8:31 pm

Kevin,
Some stunning toads! Great to see, and the monpellier was worth the trip alone :D
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