Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

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Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Bobby Bok » Sun May 17, 2015 5:42 pm

Two weeks in Northern and Eastern Turkey in spring time were amazing. It was just magic to crawl under a bridge at night and find Caucasian Salamanders clinging to the walls or to search scree slopes high in the mountains and find several Armenian Vipers basking together. Great to herp in an area with several species known to us from Europe, several closely related species and several taxa entirely new to us. A wide variety of habitats were visited and an equally wide variety of species were found,I won't write too much here as I already did so on my website ;)

Please make sure to read my report: http://www.herpsafari.nl/tripreports-ou ... ne-turkey/

Northern Banded Newt (Ommatotriton ophryticus)
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Strauch's Spotted Newt (Neurergus strauchii)
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Caucasian Salamander (Mertensiella caucasica)
netmert.jpg


Horvath' s Sunwatcher (Phrynocephalus horvathi)
netphry.jpg


Pleske's Racerunner (Eremias pleskei)
netples.jpg


Dwarf Snake (Eirenis modestus) with not the most modest coloration.
neteire.jpg


Caucasus Viper (Vipera kaznakovi)
netkazn.jpg


Wagner's Viper (Montivipera wagneri)
netwagn.jpg


Armenian Viper (Montivipera raddei) adult
netradd.jpg


Armenian Viper (Montivipera raddei) juvenile
netraddjuv.jpg
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Laura Bok » Sun May 17, 2015 6:04 pm

A great trip indeed! With finding Mertensiella caucasica and Neurergus strauchii in the wild, a dream came true! And with having the best snake catcher at miy side, we found so much more...
I let a few pictures speak, for more information and of course more pictures, please visit my picasaweb:
https://picasaweb.google.com/tiemann.la ... turkei2015

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Juvenile Smooth Snake (Coronella austriaca)

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Spur-thighed Tortoise (Testudo graeca armeniaca)

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Strauch´s Spotted Newt (Neurergus strauchii)

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Calling Eastern Tree Frog (Hyla orientalis)
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Laura Bok » Sun May 17, 2015 6:09 pm

IMG_5820.JPG
Bobby with Banded Newt (Ommatotriton ophryticus)

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Calling Green Toad (Bufotes viridis)

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Dahl´s Whip Snake (Platyceps najadum)

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Transcaucasian Rat Snake (Zamenis hohenackeri)
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Laura Bok » Sun May 17, 2015 6:12 pm

IMG_7403.JPG
Dwarf Snake (Eirenis modestus)

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Eastern Slow Worm (Anguis colchica)

IMG_6128.JPG
Caucasian Salamander (Mertensiella caucasica)

IMG_6526 Panorama.jpg
Thunderstorm approaching the Armenian ruined city of Ani
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Andre Schmid » Sun May 17, 2015 6:25 pm

Stunning ! The vipers are awesome but the manders looks also great ;) never saw a Eirenis like that - cool ! Great trip report with very interesting species...thanks for sharing :!:
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Daniel Bohle » Sun May 17, 2015 7:06 pm

very very cool stuff, especially the eirenis and the vipers :o :shock: :D
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Niklas Ban » Sun May 17, 2015 7:29 pm

Very nice findings! I totally underrate the diversity of herps in Turkey.
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Ronald Zimmerman » Sun May 17, 2015 7:36 pm

Great report as usual! Good to read that not all the places were like the first places with all the suspicion and police. You saw many great species. Not only the animals were beautiful but also the landscapes are stunning. You inspire me not to forget to photograph the landscapes on my next trips! :)
What about the pillow room? :D
Website: http://www.ronaldzimmerman.nl
Feel free to follow/Like my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ronaldzimmerman.nl/
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Bobby Bok » Sun May 17, 2015 10:38 pm

Thanks a lot everyone! For vipers this corner of Turkey is really the place to be, sadly the weather didn't allow for us to see the high altitude species (e.g. eriwanensis) but that makes for a good reason to go back one day (besides the overall diversity of species) ;)

The Eirenis was crazy, when I first found it I did not really know what it was :D

Ronald Zimmerman wrote:What about the pillow room? :D


Eej, this is a public forum man! :lol:
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Re: Tripreport NE Turkey spring 2015

Postby Sjuul Verhaegh » Mon May 18, 2015 4:43 am

Bobby, Laura,
Great finds, especially the kaznakovi! No shotguns this time? :D
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