In mid June I went to a a family meeting to my childhood home country, the Netherlands. I hadn't been in this country for almost 20 years and my girlfriend never, so we decided to make a one week holiday of it. After seeing family and friends we drove to the southernmost tip of the country, an area called Zuid-Limburg. Besides being the most beautiful part of the country, this area is also home to the coolest herp species. I had especially two species in my mind, Bombina variegata and Alytes obstetricans. Both are hard-core rarities in the Netherlands and found only in Zuid-Limburg, but with some research done beforehand AND good luck, I was able to find both species relatively easily.
Yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata). Very active little critters and fun to watch.
Also Zootoca vivipara was present. And Rana temporaria.
The very secretive midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) was a bit more difficult. There was one breeding pond very near to our B&B. During my first visit there I heard about 10 males calling, but it wasn't until the following night when I finally spotted one. This male had a strange tumour or something on his head, but seemed to be healthy otherwise. And he was carrying eggs
Habitat. I also found alpine newts (Ichthyosaura alpestris) and a green frog (Pelophylax sp.)
Pelophylax sp. Most likely esculenta.
To be continued.