Field Report - Évora - Serra da Estrela - Peneda-Gerês National Park - Serra dos Candeiros(Portugal) - April 17th to April 23rd 2011

In the Easter holiday me and my friends Francisco Silva and Pedro Silva went to Peneda-Gerês National Park.
The main target was Vipera seoanei and also Lissotriton helveticus. Neither of us had seen these two species before. We also wanted to take nice pictures of Vipera latastei.
On our way from Évora (Southern Portugal) to Peneda-Gerês we looked for alive and DOR amphibians and reptiles.
Before we reached the city of Portalegre we saw around 15 Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) flying together.

Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)

We stopped at Serra da Estrela to look for Iberolacerta monticola. There was still some snow in some points and it was cold, but we managed to see 4 or 5 lizards basking on the highest point of mainland Portugal (1993 m).

Francisco and Pedro photographing Iberolacerta monticola.

Iberolacerta monticola.

Iberolacerta monticola.

Pedro, Francisco and me (Marco) at Serra da Estrela.

After that we drove north. A little north of Serra da Estrela we saw a DOR snake. It was a Rhinechis scalaris. Francisco turned a stone near that spot and found a juvenile Malpolon monspessulanus. This snake feigned death! It was the first time we saw a M. monspessulanus doing that. We stopped at another spot north of the previous one to take a Bufo bufo out of the road and heard a Hyla arborea. We passed the night in Porto.

DOR Rhinechis scalaris.

Juvenile Malpolon monspessulanus.

Malpolon monspessulanus feigning death.

Bufo bufo.

Next day we headed for Peneda-Gerês National Park. After entering the Park we saw 2 Timon lepidus and also Psammodromus algirus and a DOR female Malpolon monspessulanus.

Timon lepidus.

DOR Malpolon monspessulanus.

We started in the western area of the National Park. The weather was really good so we headed directly for our first spot for Vipera seoanei. We saw our first Lacerta schreiberi and Podarcis bocagei. Just a few minutes later I found our first Vipera seoanei! It was a melanistic juvenile that disappeared quickly between the stones of a stone wall. I took just one bad picture before it disappeared.
Just a few meters from that spot Pedro found another juvenile V. seoanei! This one had the classic pattern (or is it the "cantabrica pattern"?! Although supposedly it occurs only V. seoanei seoanei in this area, at least this individual looked a lot like V. s. cantabrica!). Francisco had gloves, but they were very thin, so he did not wore them. To prevent the viper from escape he grabbed the glove and moved it in the direction of the viper, but he was careless and his hand was very close to the viper and she stroke his finger! Luckily she stroke with the mouth closed.
While me and Pedro were photographing this viper Francisco found our first Anguis fragilis. Walking along some stone walls Francisco found another melanistic juvenile Vipera seoanei. After the shooting session I saw a snake quickly moving to a small stream that passed underneath a stone wall. Francisco was on the other side and grabbed the snake: a Natrix maura. We saw some more Anguis fragilis, Rana iberica and Pelophylax perezi. We also saw a DOR Triturus marmoratus. As we were walking back to the car we saw a mating pair of Podarcis bocagei. Near the spot where we saw our first Vipera seoanei we saw another melanistic juvenile viper that disappeared between the stones.
Near the car we sat on some rocks to have lunch. While we were having lunch I saw a dark snake crossing the road. I said to my friends: “Isn’t that a Vipera seoanei crossing the road?!”. We ran to the snake and it was our fifth V. seoanei! Another melanistic juvenile. We were really happy for seeing 5 of these vipers in such a short time. They don’t even let us lunch in peace!
Under a piece of wood we found a Marbled Newt (Triturus marmoratus).

Male Lacerta schreiberi.

First Vipera seoanei we saw.

Vipera seoanei with the catabrica (?) pattern.

Anguis fragilis.

Anguis fragilis.

Francisco and Pedro photographing the Anguis fragilis.

Vipera seoanei and Anguis fragilis habitat.

Vipera seoanei.

Vipera seoanei. Looks like it's V. s. cantabrica.

Vipera seoanei.

Vipera seoanei.

Melanistic Vipera seoanei.

Melanistic Vipera seoanei.

Natrix maura.

Francisco having trouble with a male Lacerta schreiberi.


Male Lacerta schreiberi drinking water!

DOR Triturus marmoratus.

Podarcis bocagei mating pair.

Melanistic Vipera seoanei.

Melanistic Vipera seoanei.

Triturus marmoratus.

After this great start we got to our second spot for Vipera seoanei and also for Lissotriton helveticus. In this spot we found Podarcis bocagei, Podarcis hispanicus), Anguis fragilis and Salamandra salamandra.

Salamandra salamandra larva.

We went to our third spot in this area of the Park and found only Rana iberica. Then it started to rain. This night we were very tired and went to the tent to sleep early. It was a great day!
Next day it rained almost always. Our best bet was to look for amphibians. While we were walking towards a lake we found Salamandra salamandra and Triturus marmoratus active in the middle of the day.

Reptiles are not the only animals that can be found under stones!

Salamandra salamandra.

In a small stream we found Rana iberica. Nearby there were Bufo calamita tadpoles. When we reached the lake we hoped to find Lissotriton helveticus. We found no L. helveticus, but we saw a lot of Pelophylax perezi adults and tadpoles and some adult Lissotriton boscai.

Bufo calamita tadpoles.

Lissotriton boscai.

Pedro looking for amphibians in the middle of a cloud!

It started to rain more and more, so we went to the car. On our way to the car we saw an active Lissotriton boscai in the trail. Later it stopped raining and we decided to return to the spot where we saw Vipera seoanei. Because it rained and the temperature was a little too cold we didn’t saw any reptiles. We saw only Rana iberica. Then we decided to search for reptiles and amphibians near our camping site. We saw a Bufo bufo and a DOR Bufo calamita. Then Pedro found a Lissotriton boscai, Rana iberica tadpoles and Salamandra salamandra larva in a stream. Pedro stayed in the stream looking for amphibians while me and Francisco searched for reptiles along a bigger area. The only reptiles we found were 2 DOR Vipera seoanei. One of them was a 45,5 cm long melanistic adult and the other was a 51 cm long adult with the cantabrica (?) pattern.

Rana iberica.

Bufo Bufo.

Pedro photographing the Bufo Bufo.

DOR Bufo calamita.

DOR Vipera seoanei.

Another DOR Vipera seoanei…

Head detail.

Because of the weather we thought about a night outing in the car for amphibian searching. First we saw Bufo bufo and Bufo calamita, and then we saw a small newt. It had a light color and was different from all the Lissotriton boscai we saw before, so we thought: “Lissotriton helveticus!”. We weren’t sure, because we didn’t remember seeing a picture of a L. helveticus like that (but most of the pictures we saw were pictures of aquatic phase adults) and the belly was orange… Later we saw pictures on the internet and we confirmed that it was indeed a Lissotriton helveticus. We saw around 5 individuals that night. We also saw Triturus marmoratus. We drove back to the camping, and inside the camping area we saw an adult Salamandra salamandra, a Bufo calamita and a Bufo bufo.

Pedro with 2 Bufo bufo.

Bufo calamita.

Lissotriton helveticus.

Lissotriton helveticus.

Lissotriton helveticus.

Next day we went to another lake by a nice trail. We found a juvenile Timon lepidus and Psammodromus algirus. Then we saw a dead Alytes obstericans. In a stream we found Pelophylax perezi and Rana iberica. In a deeper part of the stream Pedro found 2 Lissotriton boscai. I found some carnivorous plants (Drosera rotundifolia) in that area.

Pelophylax perezi.

The trail...

Psammodromus algirus.

Drosera rotundifolia.

Lake.

Wild Horses.

Juvenile Timon lepidus.

Beautiful landscape!

We went to the central part of the National Park and went to a known spot for Vipera latastei. The weather was not good and we only saw Lacerta schreiberi, Podarcis bocagei and Rana iberica.
Next day we returned to the same spot to search for Vipera latastei. The weather was a lot better than the day before and we started to see some reptiles! We saw some Podarcis bocagei, some Lacerta schreiberi and an Anguis fragilis. We thought we could see at least one Vipera latastei, but then we got bad luck: we found a Park Guard that said we were in a Total Protection Area and said we couldn’t be there without an authorization. We understood that… The Guard was very nice as he told us about two other good spots for V. latastei. We were disappointed because we probably weren’t going to see V. latastei in this trip… Next time we’ll ask for the authorization and we’ll search in the best spot!

Vipera latastei habitat.

Male Lacerta schreiberi.

Anguis fragilis hemipenes.

We drove to the Eastern part of the National Park. On the way to that area we stopped at a nice looking spot (a rocky area). I found a Bufo bufo under a stone and also some Podarcis hispanicus. I also saw an adult Timon lepidus under a stone but it quickly disappeared. After that I saw 2 Psammodromus algirus.

Habitat.

Juvenile Podarcis hispanicus.

Francisco reading the map. Somehow Pedro managed to travel in the back seat with all that stuff in it!

Finally we reached the area we wanted. We would be looking essentially for more Vipera seoanei and Lissotriton helveticus. Near the road we saw a nice looking spot for amphibians. We found Triturus marmoratus and Salamandra salamandra larva. Then Francisco turned a stone and found a Natrix maura.

Natrix maura.

In another spot we searched for Vipera seoanei but found “only” Podarcis bocagei and a 45 cm long Timon lepidus.

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Timon lepidus.

At night we made another outing in the car to look for amphibians on the road. The weather was nice: light rain. We saw 2 Bufo calamita and 1 Triturus marmoratus on the main road. I thought about a place where we’ve never been and could be a good spot for amphibians. Well, I was right! In a small pool we saw a lot of Bufo calamita, and then we saw dozens of Triturus marmoratus, heard Hyla arborea vocalizing, saw 2 Alytes obstetricans and dozens of Pelophylax perezi. And then: some adult aquatic phase Lissotriton helveticus! This time there were no doubts about the species!

Alytes obstetricans.

Female Lissotriton helveticus.

Male Triturus marmoratus.

Francisco and Pedro photographing the T. marmoratus.

Male Triturus marmoratus.

Male Triturus marmoratus.

Male Lissotriton helveticus.

Male Lissotriton helveticus.

Male Lissotriton helveticus.

Next day we returned to this place to take better pictures of these species. Around this area we also saw Bocage’s Wall Lizard, 1 Fire Salamander, some Iberian Water Frogs, 1 Bosca’s Newt, Iberian Stream Frog and 1 adult male Schreiber’s Green Lizard.
Our trip in the National Park was over. I can say that it was the best trip of my life!

3 male Homo sapiens. From left to right: Marco, Pedro and Francisco.

Next day, on our way to the South we stopped at Serra dos Candeeiros to search a little for Vipera latastei. We didn’t found any viper but when we were thinking about returning to the car Pedro found a Coronella girondica under a stone.

Vipera latastei habitat.

Coronella girondica.

Coronella girondica.

Pedro and Francisco photographing the C. girondica.


Observed species:

Total (22 species):

Amphibians (10 species):

Lisstriton boscai
Lissotriton helveticus
Salamandra salamandra
Triturus marmoratus
Alytes obstetricans
Bufo bufo
Bufo calamita
Hyla arborea
Pelophylax perezi
Rana iberica

Reptiles (12 species):

Anguis fragilis
Psammodromus algirus
Iberolacerta monticola
Lacerta schreiberi
Podarcis bocagei
Podarcis hispanicus
Timon lepidus
Coronella girondica
Rhinechis scalaris
Natrix maura
Malpolon monspessulanus
Vipera seoanei