Herpetological trip to South Portugal - April 2005

translated by Michael Duda

Day 8 - 24th of April 2005

The resting day - walking on tourist paths

One should rest a little bit longer after a drunken night, and so we decided to have a lazy Sunday and have a look on the most known landmarks of the surrounding areas. Of course these are the well-known Algarve - rocks near Lagos , which can be found at every tourist guide. Luckily only a few tourists can be found at this season, and one can enjoy the view from the cliffs. It is also a nice idea to make a short trip with the boat through the rocks, if one doesn't suffer on sea sickness (or is still drunk from the day before). The cliffs are dwelled by daws and some of the last rock-doves, the wild form of our domestic pigeon, which already became very rare and still become hybridised with the domestic form.

Even herpetological observations are possible, like e.g. the Iberian ocellated skink, which can be found with two subspecies - cobosi and pistaciae - in the investigated area. Until yet we couldn't separate them, but we keep on working. This skink, that we also found in Cabo de Sao Vicente, Monte Gordo, Carrapateira and (as mentioned) Lagos, can be separated from the three toed skink by its distinguishing longer legs and more clumsy and short body. It looks similar to C. ocellatus , but doesn't become as big.

After a relaxed midday break the hangover was overpowered, and so we returned to the mouth of the Barao with its large areas of swamp, where we already had been at the second day. We didn't find any new species at that day, so it's time now to present the most common amphibian of the Iberian Peninsula , the Iberian water frog- Rana perezi . It is the only real numerous species, which can be found at every source of water in extreme high densities. It is hard to separate these Iberian frogs form the water frogs of middle Europe ( R. ridibunda, R. lessonae and R . kl. esculenta ), they are quite variable in pattern and colour and can be found in every variation from yellow - green to dark brown. The Iberian water frog is a pioneer that can populate new habitats very quick. Most of all young frogs have to migrate very often, because the adults have a preference to cannibalism. While fleeing into water, the Iberian water frog often give a call, which sounds like a baby cry - a behaviour, that we could never watch at middle European water frogs. The mating call is similar to the one of Rana k. esculenta .

While walking along an old aqueduct, we turned some stones and found two pretty ladder snakes, which were going to change their juvenile pattern to the painting of the adults. Besides viperous snakes, ladder snakes and Montpellier snakes were the most numerous snakes of our trip (dead and alive).

Those, who sleep in the car, have to keep on searching after work, and so our junior Gerald decided to make his luck on the beech of Alvor, and he brought us a big Montpellier snake during sunset. We took some photos and released the animal in the next morning. This last observation made us faithful for the next day, the one before last....

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Pictures of amphibians & reptiles Gallery

day9: Alentejo - between rests of nature and agricultural desert

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