Evidence of a Successful Reptilian Breeding Season

On Saturday I went to check on a recently discovered population of Slow Worms Anguis fragilis. As well as discovering a still gravid female, I found a newborn and 2 juveniles of last year. Also I saw 5 Viviparous Lizards Zootoca vivipara including some neonates and a recently hatched Grass Snake Natrix natrix along with 2 sheds, including one from a large female.

Above and below Female Slow Worm © Carl Corbidge

Above Neonate Slow Worm © Carl Corbidge

Juvenile Slow Worm © Carl Corbidge

Neonate Viviparous Lizard © Carl Corbidge

Newly Hatched Grass Snake © Carl Corbidge

On the Sunday I met up with Matt Wilson, we headed to the coast where we saw 2 Sand Lizards Lacerta agilis (1 female 1 male) but only managed 1 quick snap of the male, looking very drab compared to those seen in April. Under some rubbish there was a Smooth Newt Lissotriton vulgaris and a Natterjack Toad Bufo calamita. Heading over to Matt's Adder Vipera berus site we found 3 females in their usual positions plus a few Common Toads Bufo bufo.

Above and Below Smooth Newt © Carl Corbidge

Above and Below Natterjack Toad © Carl Corbidge

Male Sand Lizard © Carl Corbidge

 Female Adder © Carl Corbidge

Midwife Toads and the first Newborn Lizards of the Summer

In the week after work I went to see if female Adders Vipera berus had started to gather in the usual late summer spot. Whilst there I also saw the first juvenile Viviparous Lizard Zootoca vivipara of the year (plus one female Adder). When newborn they are very dark (but not black) when you get closer to them you can see the gold/orange flecks and specks, at this stage they shed about once a month and get lighter with each shed.

Adult Viviparous Lizard © Carl Corbidge

Juvenile Viviparous Lizard © Carl Corbidge

Juvenile Viviparous Lizard © Carl Corbidge

Female Adder © Carl Corbidge

 

Friday night I went to see a thriving population of Common Midwife Toads Alytes obstetricans here in South Yorkshire. Thanks again to Alan and Sue Mosley for letting me loose in their garden. Again the toads were very active and I saw 11 toads plus a few Common Frog Rana temporaria. Unlike during the last visit in April, I didn't see any egg carrying males.

Below 5 different Common Midwife Toads © Carl Corbidge

Common Frog © Carl Corbidge

A Few Reptiles and Amphibians From Side Turkey

Together with my daughter Sasha, my sister Lisa, her other half Andy and his son Harrison, we had 10 days in the Antalya region of Turkey starting on 24th July 2011. We were based in Side which is near Manavgat. This was obviously a family holiday with intended beach/pool days and some day trips (the highlight of which was white water rafting). However I intended to do some herping in the morning and late afternoon. July isn't the ideal month, generally because it gets too hot for both herps and herper but I was hoping to see some new species. All the herping done was from the apartment either walking or taking a five minute taxi ride. I must thank fellow herper Dan Kane who has been to this area on several occasions and gave me information on the spots where he had some success, cheers Dan.

The weather all week was too hot, in the region of 40 celsius and not dropping much below 30 at night. By the end of the 10 days I had managed to scrape together 13 species, 2 amphibians, 3 chelonians, 7 lizards and 1 snake. I also saw some interesting birds, mammals and invertebrates.

I'm not going to do a day by day account but split the report into the two main areas I visited these being, the ruins and dunes near the old town and some farmland with a small stream running through behind the apartment.

Dunes and Ruins
Side is full of ancient Roman ruins, these stretch behind the beach from the old town. It was here I found the first herps of the trip. Starred Agamas Laudakia stellio were in evidence, skittish as ever perched on the rocks, trees and ruins. I flipped 2 Ocellated Skinks Chalcides ocellatus the first lifer of the trip. There were plenty of tortoise tracks in the sand but I only found one Spur Thighed Tortoise Testudo graeca that had found a piece of discarded water melon and was getting it's fill. I saw a couple of Striped Skinks Mabuya vittata another lifer, the second of which I flipped and managed to catch. On a high wall there was a shed snake skin which was probably from a Dahl's Whip Snake. At night in Side a local man offered camel rides and he kept these in the dunes, so I asked him if he saw many snakes and he had seen one the day before, however despite visits morning and evening I couldn't find any.

Ruins at Side © Carl Corbidge

Above baby Starred Agama and 2 different adults below © Carl Corbidge

Above and below 2 different Ocellated Skinks © Carl Corbidge

Above and Below Spur Thighed Tortoise © Carl Corbidge

Tortoise Habitat © Carl Corbidge

Shed of probable Dahl's Whip Snake © Carl Corbidge

Above and Below Striped Skink © Carl Corbidge

There were also a few birds in the dunes Spectacled Bulbuls Pycnonotus xanthopygos were fairly common and I also saw some Rufous Bush Robin Cercotrichus galactotes.

Above and Below Spectacled Bulbuls © Carl Corbidge

Above and Below Rufous Bush Robin © Carl Corbidge

One of the species I was keen to see was Loggerhead Turtles Caretta caretta which occur in the area. Andy likes to do a spot of sea fishing, so we headed off to a spot where he had seen turtles on a previous trip when fishing. The most I expected was some distant views, however a shout from Andy and he and Harrison had just seen one a few yards out, but vanished by the time I appeared. A five minute wait and I could see a distant head bobbing up and down every so often, so I decided to walk towards the direction it was swimming. My luck was in, as I then spotted another turtle down in the edge. 10 minutes later and there were 3 showing down to a few metres, the most obliging was a barnacle encrusted individual feeding on sea grass, I had an amazing wildlife experience for the next 30 minutes.

Above 3 Loggerhead no 1 © Carl Corbidge

Loggerhead head no 2 © Carl Corbidge

Loggerhead no 3 © Carl Corbidge

2 Loggerheads together © Carl Corbidge

Side Harbour © Carl Corbidge

Fields and Stream

This area turned out to be the most productive and produced the only snake of the trip. On my first morning visit to a part of the stream near my apartment I saw a couple of Balkan Terrapins Mauremys rivulata and managed to catch a Grass Snake Natrix natrix persa, this was of the striped variety and the yellow on the neck was very dark, I also found an adult Praying Mantis spp. A little bit further downstream in an area tipped off by Dan Kane I added a few extra species. I found two Green Toads Bufo viridis, Levant Water Frogs Pelophylax bedriagae a single Kotschy's Gecko Cyrtopodian kotschyi, the commonest lizard in this area was the Snake Eyed Lizard Ophisops elegans macrodactylus, one adult individual gave me a step by step demonstration on how to despatch a grasshopper. I also saw 5 Pamphylian Green Lizards Lacerta pamphylica , which have to be the most beautiful species in this group of lizards, these are endemic to the Antalya region of Turkey and tricky to photograph generally being a couple of feet off the ground partially obscured in vegetation. There were also more terrapins and fresh water crabs in the deeper pools and quite a few Wasp Spiders in the vegetation, these are very large and as the name suggests have a beautiful wasp like colouration. On an evening visit as the sun went down the edges of the fields were alive with lizards (but difficult to spot) I saw 5 Budak's Snake Eyed Skinks Ablepharus budaki (but couldn't get a photo) more Striped Skinks, I got my only shot of a female Pamphylian Green Lizard. With all this lizard activity I felt that this was the best chance of encountering a decent snake, but not even a sniff. One evening after a night out, Harrison spotted a hedgehog near the apartment, having recently read a book on mammals I had a suspicion it might be a different species so I went to get my camera. I'm glad I did as it was a White Breasted Hedgehog Erinaceus concolor, although it doesn't look a great deal different to the Western Hedgehog.

Praying Mantis spp © Carl Corbidge

Wasp Spider © Carl Corbidge

Above and below 2 different Balkan Terrapins © Carl Corbidge

Above 3 Grass Snake © Carl Corbidge

Freshwater Crab spp © Carl Corbidge

Above and below 2 different Green Toads © Carl Corbidge

Above 3 Kotschy's Gecko © Carl Corbidge

Above and Below 2 different Levant Water Frogs © Carl Corbidge

Above Female and Below Male Pamphylian Green Lizard © Carl Corbidge

Red Rumped Swallow © Carl Corbidge

Adult Snake Eyed Lizard (she's spotted something) © Carl Corbidge

Got It © Carl Corbidge

Down it Goes © Carl Corbidge

All Gone © Carl Corbidge

Above and Below Juvenile Snake Eyed Lizard © Carl Corbidge

Above Sub-adult and Below Adult Striped Skink © Carl Corbidge

White Breasted Hedgehog © Carl Corbidge

Final Species Tally

Reptiles and Amphibians
1) Green Toad Bufo viridis 2
2) Levant Water Frog Pelophylax bedriagae Common
3) Loggerhead Turtle Caretta caretta  3
4) Spur Thighed Tortoise Testudo graeca 1
5) Balkan Terrapin Mauremys rivulata 10+
6) Kotschy's Gecko Cyrtopodian kotschyi 1
7) Starred Agama Laudakia stellio Common
8) Pamphylian Green Lizard Lacerta pamphylica 7
9) Snake Eyed Lizard Ophisops elegans macrodactylus 20+
10) Budak's Snake Eyed Skink Ablepharus budaki 5
11) Ocellated Skink Chalcides ocellatus 2
12) Striped Skink Mabuya vittata 10
13) Grass Snake Natrix natrix persa 1

Mammals

White Breasted Hedgehog Erinaceus concolor
Bat spp

Birds
Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus 2
Little Owl Athene noctua 5
Crested Lark Galerida cristata Common
Red Rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica Common
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica Common
House Martin Delichon urbica Common
Sand Martin Riparia riparia Common
Spectacled Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthopygos Common
Rufous Bush Robin Cercotrichas galactotes 10+