NW Portugal & SW Galicia, July 2016 family vacation

Portugal, Spain, Andorra

NW Portugal & SW Galicia, July 2016 family vacation

Postby Kristian Munkholm » Tue Aug 02, 2016 7:47 pm

Holiday time again...

this time family vacation saw us in Northwestern Portugal and Southwestern Galicia, flying in and out of Porto July 11 and July 20 respectively. As always, we had to make time for bounty beaches, waterfall pools, museums, shopping, ice creams, tapas, cakes, wines and all sorts of other nonsense so herping time was limited and worse still, often limited to the hottest hours of afternoon. Results, of course, were according. Nonetheless, it was a still a great little trip and under the circumstances I am pleased with the results.

We landed late at night and drove straight to our hotel north of town. The next morning Gustav and I awoke first and went for a short walk to avoid waking the others. The hotel surroundings weren't all that interesting but we did happen upon the first herps of the trip, a couple of Schreiber's green lizards.

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After breakfast we headed for the beach. While the rest of the family hung out by the water I explored the dunes behind. Lizard tracks were all over but I found only a single subadult ocellated lizard. A three course lunch in the nearby town later we were on our way again, passing the first Podarcis sp. on the road. En route to Spain we made a stop for the obligatory ice cream and a bit of sigthseeing in the charming little border town of Vila Nova de Cerveira, complete with ancient fortress and colourful crochet covering nearly every road sign, tree, statue or building.

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Upon arrival at the coastal resort town of Baiona – thankfully a week before the beginning of the high season at the start of the Spanish holidays – we headed to the beach again and went for a short walk around town. At the fort behind the beach I came across a few Guadarrama wall lizards. With a long day ahead of us and a short night behind us we headed to bed rather early after a seafood dinner with a nice Albariño.

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In the morning we were off to the Cíes islands. This small archpelago is part of Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park. To most the main attractions are the beaches, one of which, the 1200 m white sand arch of Praia de Rodas linking the granite rocks of the Illa de Monteagudo with those of the Illa de Montefaro was named the best beach in the world by the Guardian way back in 2007. Despite not appearing on any of the multitude of newer lists this is of course still quite a selling point. In addition to the beaches the islands offer nice hikes, spectacular views, a rocky laguna with an amazing diversity of marine life, some 22.000-30.000 caspian gulls, the world's largest colony of shags with 2.000- 5.000 birds (both numbers highly dependent on the sources) and assorted other seabirds.

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Regular boat rides bring swarms of tourists to the islands summer and Easter. The only option for staying overnight is in a tent on the sole campground. Places need to be reserved in advance. The rest of the year the animals have the islands to themselves.

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We spent all day on Monteagudo and Montefaro taking it all in, cliffs, hikes, crystal clear waters, beaches, marine and avian life, and yes, of course, even a few herps. Ocellated lizards and Guadarrama wall lizards were both abundant and across most of the islands every bit as shy as their mainland conspecifics. However, in the more crowded centre of the islands, hemmed in between the boat stop, laguna, camping ground, and Rodas beach a small group of ocellated lizards behaved very differently indeed.

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Right next to the heavily trafficked path we found a couple basking in the grass. The male fled into the taller grass behind but the female stayed in her spot. I crept closer and lay down to get a few pictures. As I was lying there Henriette and the kids, standing behind me, noticed the male come out again, and claimed it headed for me. I was convinced it would veer off and kept my focus on the female in front of me. Slowly but steadily, though, the male moved ever closer. Curious as to just how close he would come, I soon lost interest in the female and remained nearly motionless, anticipating his movements. Balancing my wish not to spook him with my desire for photographic documentation of the encounter (and lying in a very awkward position relative to the angle from which he was approaching) the observer won over the photographer. My pics are crap so words will have to convey the experience.

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The male earlier in the day

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The female

Much to my surprise, the lizard kept approaching until, eventually, he was examining me by flicking his tongue on my knee and outer thigh. Unfazed, he then moved around my knee, in between my legs and... started crawling up my bathing shorts. Had I been wearing underwear, I surely would have relished the situation but by the time most of his tail had also disappeared up my shorts it got a little too close for comfort and I ended up twitching just enough that he made his way back out, albeit in a calm and orderly fashion.

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Coming back out again

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Who is that guy?

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...better take a closer look...

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...or better a closer lick

He headed towards the higher grass again and I had just about accepted that this was the end of my little foray into the world of the ocellated lizards when he stopped and soon started moving back towards me. This time he went for my hand and, reaching it, decided tongue flicking wasn't enough so he bit me – repeatedly. The bites weren't hard and didn't seem aggressive but rather more inquisitive. At first somewhat tentative they did, however, increase in strength, up to the point where, once again I made just enough of a movement that he quietly withdrew, this time a little further.

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Back for a bite

By now I found it fitting to end my intrusion and leave him alone with his lady friend so I got up and moved on, an exhilarating experience richer.

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Finally alone

Back on the mainland after a typically Spanish late tapas dinner and a beer I tucked in the family before heading out on a late night quest for one of the two critters I had allowed myself to specifically target. I like rat snakes, and the ladder snake was sorely missed on my trip to Sistema Central last October. I had received a tip about a road from Borji and, full of hope if not expectation, I headed out for a short cruise. At first the road seemed less than promising but a DOR subadult western Montpellier snake after just a few minutes and in less than pristine habitat got my hopes up.

I made it to the end of the road without seeing more but on the way back I thought I saw a small snake on the road. Slamming on the brakes, I then ran back and found – yes – a beautiful juvenile ladder snake crossing the road. Everything I have read about these being bitey and thoroughly uncooperative proved true. Everything I have read about them being less so when found on roads at night, well... The ungrateful little cretin clearly didn't appreciate being rescued from death by vulcanized weapons of ophidian mass destruction.

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The following day was spent exploring town and the peninsula north of it, beaches, forests, cliffs, castles, sleepy fishing villages and all. Herps were purely accidental, few and far between, a single juvenile ocellated lizard and a bunch of Guadarrama wall lizards.

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We had a lovely time by the coast, but by now my patience with beaches and resort towns was spent. The next morning we headed for the Portuguese national park of Peneda Geres. We drove in from the north, where Frank and Gerrit Jan had kindly given me a couple of tips about good spots for Seoane's vipers and a few other species. However, after a couple of stops on the way for the benefit of other family members it was already early afternoon when we arrived and way too oppressingly hot.

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We found a lovely lush green picnic spot by a little stream, all manner of beautiful butter-, damsel- and dragonflies fluttering about but disappointingly few herps. I searched a bit along the stream, in the meadows and by the drystone walls coming up with only a juvenile ocellated lizard and a displaced large psammodromus. Displaced, because according to the 2005 survey they shouldn't be found anywhere near. I hope their presence now isn't indicative of some local climatic changes within the last 15 or so years to the detriment of the more specialized species found in the area.

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All too soon we had to break up again, as Pauline's tolerance of the plentiful dipteran fauna was somewhat limited. A few of other short, hot afternoon stops along the way, for ice cream, coffee, and short hikes to waterfalls, meadows and lookout points didn't produce any more live herps, only a couple of impressive but all too DOR Montpellier snakes.

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Around our hostel on the southern edge of the national park we explored the surroundings for a bit, finding some rather impressive beetles and a couple of Guadarrama wall lizards and large psammodromus.

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At dusk it was time for me to head out again, on the search for my second declared target species. The golden striped salamander. I had been offered a couple of spots by Frank. I would road cruise along the way, in the vain hopes of stumbling upon a Lataste's viper.

Neither the cruising nor the salamander spots paid off. Habitats (or what I could see of them before it got too dark) were nice, bats and rabbits abundant but well on my way back the only herp I had come across was a very dead slow worm. Of course I hadn't given up yet, though, and I suddenly noticed a promising looking little trickle down the steep rocks next to the road. I stopped to have a closer look and immediately spotted an Iberian stream frog in the moss. Convinced there had to be a salamander as well I kept searching but had almost given up when I finally spotted the one that had certainly been in plain view one meter above my head the whole time.

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After a short photo sesssion with my lovely subject - that tried its best to outdo even the ladder snake from a couple of days before in terms of uncooperativeness - I was on my way again, already much more pleased with the evening's results. Fifty meters further up the road a large spiny toad was crossing, a little later a second one.

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Back at the hostel I decided to give it one last little shot down a road that had looked quite promising in the afternoon. Nothing was out on the blactop but I soon heard frogs calling through the open window. I stopped and found a tiny pond full of Iberian water frogs. Closer inspection also revealed larvae of both Bosca's newt and marbled newt the final herps of the night.

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In the morning we went on a short hike by the side of a nearby lake. The scenery was great and there were plenty of lizards about, Bocage's wall lizards outnumbering large psammodromus two to one. After our hike it was already lunchtime – and hot. I went on a second little hike, up to the peak behind the hostel, while the rest of the family spent most of the afternoon lazing about, reading, playing cards and pool, etc. Views were great and butterflies both plenti- and beautiful but herps were scarce. Only a single ocellated lizard and a couple of Guadarrama wall lizards made a brief appearance.

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Later in the afternoon it was still hot when we were getting ready to head out again. I was sitting where disturbances are inconvenient when suddenly first my kids then my wife started yelling ”Snake, snake, come out, there's a big snake”. Earlier in the afternoon I had been a little impatient but now the tables had turned and I wasn't quite sure whether they were just pulling my leg trying to get me out of there fast. It didn't seem like them but on the other hand it was probably still 95 F out in the scorching sun and I had spent a fair amount of time searching in better conditions and better looking habitat to no avail so I found it hard to believe there was suddenly a large snake next to the wall of our room. I said I didn't believe them but they insisted and told me to hurry out before it disappeared. I asked them ”what colour is it”? ”Green”. ”There are no green snakes around here.”

...Except...hey, there are... By now beginning to believe there probably was a snake right outside the door I was worried it would disappear, yelled ”Grab it!” (my family have seen enough snakes that they wouldn't call a Lataste's viper large or green) and hurriedly finished my business.

They hadn't touched the snake – fair enough, a Montpellier snake would have bit them to shreds – but indeed, there it was, coiled up by the side of the house one meter from the door, a beatiful adult Iberian grass snake. My surprise and the joy of my family when they saw my elated reaction only made the experience all the sweeter.

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After an extended photo session, a lot of trouble with check in for our return flight a few days later (this was the only place we knew we had wifi and it was very unstable...), some communications with our landlady for the next couple of nights about our arrival and a trip into town after water we were finally ready to go. We headed up a dirt road to a rocky mountain stream with waterfalls and crystal clear turquoise pools. The rest of the family spent their time bathing and relaxing on the boulders, I also found time for a quick search of the surroundings. Only a few Bocage's wall lizards and a couple of large psammodromus were found. I was more excited about the midwife toad, tadpoles that Gustav found in the water.

Back at the hostel we had a late dinner and Henriette and the kids went to bed while I went out for another short evening outing – just a little too late... One kilometer from the hostel I found a freshly hit juvenile ladder snake. An absolute behemoth of a spiny toad was the only other animal out on the road but once again I suddenly heard a frog chorus through the window, this time up on the plateau.

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I found a larger pond this time, with Iberian water frogs, marbled newts, an Iberian stream frog where it emptied into a tiny brook and a viperine snake, hunting in the shallows – nice.

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The next morning Henriette and the kids all wanted to go back up to the waterfalls. I agreed, so we did some more swimming and I did a little more searching, turning up plenty of Bocage's wall lizards a few large psammodromus, an ocellated lizard and a shed slough of a smooth or southern smooth snake, Coronella sp.

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Heading back down we took a break from the heat with a nice long lunch before moving onwards for ice cream, coffee and festival in the charming town of Amarante on the northern side of the Douro valley. Our lodging for the next two night was a wonderful old granite house in a village in the hills outside town with Guadarrama wall lizards running about on the property, large psammodromus nearby and Iberian water frogs in all the sheep troughs. Other interesting critters around the house included a preying mantis that Pauline was less than pleased to find on the kitchen table, and a chunky 6 cm Ergates faber longhorn beetle, that Pauline was less than pleased to find in her bedroom at night.

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I went – of course – on a couple of evening walks around the village, found mostly just assorted inverts (wolf spiders, more mantises, stick insects, etc.) and small mammals (bats & mice) but a few herps made an appearance as well. In addition to the water frogs these included a most surprising ocellated lizard active in complete darkness a t 11 o'clock two nights in a row – a pretty good indicator of just how hot it was, I guess...

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The first evening I also spotted a large spiny toad sitting on the dirt road out of town, then a smaller toad in front of it. Assuming it was just a smaller spiny toad I none the less turned my attention to this one, in the hopes that it might be something slightly more interesting, a natterjack perhaps. I was pleasantly surprised it was instead a common midwife toad, a species of which I had (rather shocking, I admit) never before seen an adult specimen.

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This was to be the last somewhat interesting herpetological find of the trip. The final three days I relinquished my interests in herps in favour of the special interests of other family members. We spent a day in Amarante, strolling about in the old town centre, visiting the cathedral and the surprisingly good art museum, enjoying the town's famed pastry and cooling down in the heat of afternoon at the municipal pool. Next day we headed to Porto for to day two final days of urban sightseeing, wine tasting, and – for some – shopping, for the rest rest of us chillaxing.

Herpwise I ended up with 15 live species, including my two dedicated targets and a couple of other nice slight surprises while missing out on the vipers, some of the more interesting anurans, the skinks and a bunch of others. Had it been a dedicated herping trip this would have been somewhat disappointing but in the context of a family vacation – in July to boot – and relative to the extent and character of our searching efforts a quite satisfying result.


Species list:

Chioglossa lusitanica – 1
Lissotriton bosca – 5 larvae
Triturus marmoratus – 3 (+ ~15 larvae)

Alytes obstetricans – 1 (+ 3 tadpoles)
Bufo spinosus – 4 (+ 1 DOR)
Pelophylax perezi – many
Rana iberica - 2

Lacerta schreiberi – 2
Podarcis bocagei – many
Podarcis guadarramae – many
Psammodromus algirus – many
Timon lepidus ~ 20

Natrix astreptophora – 1
Natrix maura – 1
Rhinechis scalaris – 1 (+1 DOR)

DOR only:
Malpolon monspessulanus – 3
Anguis fragilis - 1

shed slough – Coronella sp.
Kristian Munkholm
 
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Re: NW Portugal & SW Galicia, July 2016 family vacation

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:33 am

Beautiful.
I would say the Natrix is more blue than green (Tyndall effect most probable reason).
The Coronella sp. shed: have you thought at the Macroprotodon alternative? ;)
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Re: NW Portugal & SW Galicia, July 2016 family vacation

Postby Mario Schweiger » Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:22 am

great report with great pictures, Kristian!
the astreptophora is stunning!
And one can see, how "easy" it is to tame a lepidus, when you spent enough time ;) love it!
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Please visit also my personal Herp-site vipersgarden.at
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Re: NW Portugal & SW Galicia, July 2016 family vacation

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Wed Aug 03, 2016 10:21 am

Great Timon story! And any trip with Chio is top!

(Ruggero, there's no Macroprotodon that far north.)
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Re: NW Portugal & SW Galicia, July 2016 family vacation

Postby Kristian Munkholm » Wed Aug 03, 2016 10:54 pm

Thanks for the kind words :)

The astreptophora, Chioglossa, & the Timon experience were among my favourites as well.

I had an extra stop planned at some old mine shafts in the Porto suburbs, mainly as a backup if I missed Chioglossa in Peneda Geres. Gustav and I were ready to go but by that time I felt I had to make room for the wishes of Pauline & Henriette. Though I wouldn't have minded seeing more finding one out and about at your own spot by a pristine stream is cooler than searching a well known mine anyway...

Ruggero Morimando wrote:I would say the Natrix is more blue than green (Tyndall effect most probable reason).


I would say a lousy photographer too lazy and impatient do proper photo editing is the most probable reason :lol:

...& yes, as J rightly states, I was out of range of Macroprotodon.
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