Sunday 23rd January
I landed at Faro, collected my hire car and drove for a few minutes to my first stop, a couple of ruined buildings on some rough ground. I checked around the first house finding just a few Moorish geckos Tarentola mauritanica so moved up the track flipping anything I could find. The second ruin held only Moorish geckos so I moved to some rubbish across the track where I found my first target species, an Iberian worm lizard Blanus cinereus. I also realised that I had dropped my glasses somewhere so retraced my steps, no sign of the glasses anywhere but I did find another Iberian worm lizard and a juvenile Algerian psammodromus Psammodromus algirus
Iberian worm lizard by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrMy next stop was a supermarket in Lagos to get some food and hopefully a replacement pair of glasses, I walked in and asked a member of staff if they sold glasses, she said they didn't so I walked around the supermarket squinting at everything and gently swearing under my breath.I waited in the queue to pay and noticed a large rack of glasses for sale!!
Got to the apartment, had a meal and then headed to a spot on the coast where I had found Portugese parsley frogs Pelodytes atlanticus on my previous visit. The area was rather dry and no frogs were calling or visible so I headed to a lake in the woods above Budens, this was dry as were the ponds near Carapateira that I had previously visited
Monday 24th January
An early start to the day (every day) with a nearby cockerel crowing very loudly.
The first stop today was a ruined building in the woods above Budens where after turning some stones I found a Southern marbled newt Triturus pygmaeus, the only other herps seen here were a couple of Iberian water frogs Rana perezi in a well.
Southern marbled newt by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrI moved from here back to the coastal spot and started to turn some stones away from the water, the proved more productive and I soon found a Ladder snake Zamenis scalaris and four Portugese parsley frogs.
Ladder snake by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
Portugese parsley frogs by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
Portugese parsley frog by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrI then headed for the fort at Sagres hoping to find a Western psammodromus Psammodromus occidentalis but it was cold and windy so I moved on up to the dunes at Carapateira. I walked the dunes here but found nothing so headed to some old farm building where I hoped to find a Bedriaga's skink Chalcides bedriagai but with no luck so I tried to find the spot where I had found Carbonells wall lizard Podarcis carbonelli. I couldn't find it this year but did manage to find a Spiny toad beneath a stone.
Spiny toad by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrI drove from here to Sao Marco de Serra hoping to bump the trip list with a few previously found species, I flipped a few stones for no result, waited for darkness and a few Iberian midwife toads Alytes cisternasii were heard calling but I could not track them down this year.It was getting late so I headed over to the Monchique area where I quickly found 2 Fire salamanders Salamandra s crespoi.
Fire salamander by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrTuesday 25th January
A beautiful sunny day so I drove to Albufeira and checked out some waste ground and abandoned buildings, a large pile of wooden boards which looked like a herper's heaven held just a few Moorish geckos and a Turkish gecko Hemidactylus turcicus, a stone down the track revealed a Natterjack toad Epidalea calamita. I moved to an old factory where I found just another Worm lizard and then a Horseshoe whip snake Hemorrhois hippocrepis slid into the wall of an old house just as I saw it.
Next stop was the clinic for a PCR test but this only took a few moments and so I was soon off again driving north east for a couple of hours to a lake within the range of the Iberian parsley frog Pelodytes ibericus. This had been just a random google earth find but I was feeling confident after my success with the Portugese parsley frogs. The first stone turned gave a Natterjack toad as did the next few. I stepped to the edge of the lake which saw several Moorish terrapins Mauremys leprosa quickly disappear into the water never to be seen again. I carried on around the lake finding more Natterjack toads until in desperation I said out loud "This is stupid, I don't even know if they live here!" The next rock of course held one Iberian parsley frog, well I only needed one so I took a few photos had a beer to celebrate and began the long drive back.
Natterjack toads by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
Iberian Parsley frog by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
Iberian parsely frog by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrWednesday 26th January
Back to Sagres again for a last search for the Western Psammodromus and Bedriaga's skink, I chose some rough open ground above Sagres but despite searching for a couple of hours I once again found nothing. I returned to the fort and began to search through the scrub, as I walked through the toilet paper and human waste I spotted a small lizard disappearing into a large bush, it was too quick to identify and was the only one seen.
I headed back to Carapateira but stopped by a small pond by the turbines. A concrete water tank at it's head held a Sharp ribbed newt Pleurodeles waltl and some Southern Marbled newts but as I returned to the car to get my camera and Aquarium I noticed the land owner was watching me and as I had previously seen and photographed these species I decided it would be better to leave.
That was the end of the trip, Thursday was just travelling back. A nice few days away in the winter sunshine with two new species ticked off.
