This weekend i visited three nature reserves in southern Dobroudja for some mammalwatching, a little birding and of course lots of herping. I got a lifer bird, the Pied Flycatcher , saw six mammals (European Souslik, hedgehog, fox, European hare, red squirrel and wildcat) and best of all, i found my first live snakes of the season!
Pelophylax ridibundus
Lacerta viridis
Podarcis muralis
Podarcis tauricus
Testudo graeca
Zamenis longissimus
Vipera ammodytes
Dolichophis caspius
Now it's time for me to hit the sack; i'm beat . Hope you enjoyed!
Nice stuff Vlad. I like the caspius the most Despite of being so common it's one of my favourite European snakes. It's interesting that you saw a wildcat! Dobroudja is quite flat and bare with not much forest. Are you sure it wasn't one of those domestic cats gone feral? If you are sure about the sighting - congratulations, it's a really cool find. Wildcats are pretty hard to find and observe!
And let me reassure you that the few forest of south-western Dobrudja still harbour wild, beautiful and quite big cats. Not to mention jackals and wolves. I`ve talked to local shepherds and hunters before making camp in the reserves this weekend and on several other occasions and my advice to anyone planning an overnight stay in the core areas is to consider sleeping in their car. Just my two cents.