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Hello!

During the 2nd week of February I will be doing a field trip to Cyprus, mainly in the Akamas Peninsula. It won't exactly be a herping trip but I really would love to see its reptiles and amphibians. Can you give some tips or indicate me which species can I expect to see in this time of the year? Is it very rainy?

Thank you very much

Hi Ana,

of course you need some luck with the weather but if it is sunny, you should find at least some lizards.
At Akamas you can find Ablepharus budaki, Trachylepis vittata, Chalcides ocellatus, Hemidactylus turcicus, Cyrtopodion kotschyi, Stellagama stellio, Acanthodactylus schreiberi, Ophisops elegans & Phoenicolacerta troodica and some frogs.
For the snakes it is maye more difficult.

Cheers
Peter

Hey Peter,

Many thanks for your reply! Almost all of those species would be new for me! Are the S. stellio abundant? If I spot A. budaki, T. vittata and C. ocellatus it will already be a very successful trip for me.

Seeing Typhlops vermicularis is not very likely, is it?

I don't know how common they are on Cyprus but in most of Greece and Turkey they are commonly encountered in early spring. So hopefully you are lucky!

Hope so!
Thank you, Bobby

I wouldnt expect to find snakes , maybe dolichophis if weather and sunny are warm enough , but still too early.

Agamas were everywhere In spring , not sure about late winter

S. stellio is abundant in rocky areas but also in olive growes.
T. vittata and A. budaki are abundant in areas with much vegetation (gardens etc.).
Surprisingly, C. ocellatus seems to be rare on Cyprus.

Akamas Peninsula is very nice. You can follow the trail from Baths of Aphrodite. It's as close as you can get without a fourwheeldrive. Stellio is very common there, as well as O. elegans and (a bit less common) P. troodica. If you follow the trail you will pass a ruin of some sort, with a very big oak tree next to it. There is some water there, which is not very plentiful elsewhere. A bit south of Akamas is Avakas gorge, which is a nice hike as well with plenty of lizards. Budaki can be found throughout the island.

I was on Cyprus in Oktober and found the skinks very hard to find, although it was much hotter than it will be in February. I found C. ocellatus near Paphos, further south.

Ana Goncalves wrote: Is it very rainy?

As for the weather, I always study the climate tables like http://en.climate-data.org/location/584/ or http://worldweather.wmo.int/en/city.html?cityId=1885

As you can see, the average rain in February varies quite heavily depending where you are.
See also http://environ.chemeng.ntua.gr/ineco/Default.aspx?t=288

I think February might be a good month to find skinks (if weather conditions are favorable). At least in Southern Turkey I always easily encountered several species of skink while flipping rocks. In autumn it is usually more difficult to find them.