So that means me, my girlfriend Elfie and our two boys of 2 and 4 years old.
In between beach, playing, eating and resting time we managed to do some herping at a rather slow paste.
The abundance in herpetofauna on Corfu made it an ideal holiday destination for us.
Our home base was a small hotel complex just outside the town of Roda in the north of the island where we were the only customers.
We had 9 days of mostly sunny weather with temperatures between 22 and 30°C followed by a last day of rain.
To avoid frustration I didn't set my goals too high: I just really wanted to see the species I never saw alive before. Those were Dahl's whip snake, Balkan whip snake and Epirus water frog.
Luckely we saw even much more than that!
Rather than bore you with a chronological overview of our slow trip, I'll present you my findings by the species we've met.
First some sceneries
I focussed on visiting...
...half abandonned villages (can be very touristic, so try to go there at early mornings)
...totally abandonned villages (those can include very adventurous drives to reach them)
...castle ruins
...coastal areas with great views
... and olive groves (you can actually define Corfu as one big olive grove)
Then the animals...
Amphibians
Because of the dry weather and few specific searches I only saw two species of amphibians:
Epirus water frog (Pelophylax epeiroticus)
I didn't had to go trough much trouble to find them as they were present just outside our hotel in small drainage ditches and streams. I heard them calling every night but waited untill our last evening in the rain to make some descent pictures. Yeah a new species for me (that actually looks much like any other water frog to me
).
Agile frog (Rana dalmatina)
I saw two subadult individuals on two separate occasions
Turtles, terrapins and tortoises
Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta)?
Our first day I made this sad but rare discovery on the beach of Roda. It was about 20 cm in lenght and in a far state of decay.
European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis)
Seems to be fairly common. I found some between the frogs and other tortoises next to the hotel and one more at a small lake.
Balkan pond turtle (Mauremys rivulata)
The first day I counted about a dozen in a ditch close to the hotel. Never experienced that you made some shitty pictures of easy-to-see animals in the beginning of the vacation, a few more later on and by the end think: "Surely I must have some really good photographs of them but I'm too lazy to check it now"? Well it happened to me again...
So a shitty picture of terrapins in their habitat, a filthy ditch:
Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni)
We rescued a few from the road and found one or two on walks. Ofcourse Paco and Ben love them; the other way around the affection was a bit less.
Size comparison
Lizards
Dalmatian algyroides (Algyroides nigropunctatus)
By far the most common species on Corfu. While on other trips I had to work to see them, it is fantastic to see them in such an abundance. It already started next to our rental car while picking it up at the airport. But also on the doorstep of our appartment, just about any garden or stone wall and everywhere inbetween.
Greek slow worm (Anguis graeca)
Derived from the many road kills we saw, a very common species. I was too lazy to flip a lot of stones (so Matt, it wasn't me
) or other material, making this the only species I found by flipping. A baby under an old wooden panel:
Turkish Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)
The first evenings I checked the walls of our hotel for this species. There were few cracks in the walls and I couldn't find any. So I forgot about them until the last evening after photographing frogs I found one walking on the drive way in the rain
.Only shots of the head. Maybe somebody stupid caused it loosing its tail...
Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata)
Could be seen every day in all sizes.
The next one was spotted by Ben before daddy did. While sitting on my shoulders, he pointed his little finger in front of my nose and whispered "kijk es daar". The first herp he found all by himself. I was so proud!
Eastern green lizard (Lacerta viridis)
Less rare than I anticipated. I found quite a few of them in the north of the island. Mostly in the vicinity of water, so the somewhat cooler areas.
close up of the same animal:
female:
Starred agama (Laudakia stellio)
Visiting cities is not my favourite thing to do on holiday. But when there are living agama's in the city, it's not all that bad. At Kerkyra you have two fortresses: an old one and an even older one. At both of them agama's are easy to spot. Because of the herds of tourists passing by each day, they are not very shy and become real posers. I love those cheeky faces.
habitat:
Balkan wall lizard (Podarcis tauricus)
These lizards prefer gravelly areas with not too dense grassy vegetation. At those places around the town of Roda, they could be found easily.
Glass lizard (Pseudopus apodus)
Found about half a dozen alive and some more road kills.
young adult:
size comparison
in situ
Snakes
Four-lined snake (Elaphe quatorlineata)
Secretly I was hoping for a big adult, something I've never seen in the wild yet. But I was already very happy with this baby snake:
On one occasion I could hear a big snake moving slowly in very dense vegetation. That might have been one too.
Balkan whip snake (Hierophis gemonensis)
One of the target species! The first snake I saw on the island but it got a way. The second one was moving on an old stone wall and was easy to grab. Finally, I only saw it DOR before.
I saw a few more shooting off into bushes or stone walls and some extra DOR.
Eastern montpellier snake (Malpolon insignitus)
The species I saw the most DOR. One time when getting something out of the car I saw one crossing the road in front of the hotel and disappearing on the other side of the wall into a hole in a big cement block. A very nice specimen. There was no vegetation around the hole except of one rose bush. It was 5 meters of my doorstep but no way of getting it out because the cement blocks were connected to each other. I checked the hole every time I passed it but never found the snake again. On another occasion a small animal slipped before my feet while standing in the middle of a pile of rubble at an abondonned village. I missed it by millimeters. So no pictures.
Dice snake (Natrix tessellata)
A melanistic one was seen around dusk in a small stream dissappearing into the reeds.
Dahl's whip snake (Platyceps najadum)
The biggest target of them all! First two seen were juveniles and way too fast to even take pictures. Also a skin was found on the hotel grounds. But on an overcast morning when the children were playing with their new greek friends at the hotel, I got out alone to explore the orchards in the neighbourhood. It was then that I saw one of the juveniles disappearing in a low stone wall. I waited a while but it wouldn't come back. Slightly frustrated I walked on and only ten meters further a big adult was draped over the same wall. This time I was faster
. And it is confirmed, najadum is my favourite european snake species. I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.
I saw one more a few days later crossing the track about 30 meters in front of me, racing into the bushes like an arrow.
But Elfie and Ben got the jackpot. On a walk when she was walking about 100 meters behind, she saw one catching a lizard and (as she describes it) "flying" through the shrubs right in front of their noses. She failed to make a picture.
Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)
In total I observed three vipers. One tiny juvenile was inside a bramble bush, so small I couldn't get a grip on it with my glove. The second one was a very big adult, laying on a narrow path between high grass. I doubted too long and just missed it. But the third was rescued from the road in the morning in the shade. It was still cold and slow moving. Luckely I found it before a car passed the same spot about 30 seconds later.
Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus)
One was seen while driving. It was in striking position being mad at passing cars. A big individual. It moved down a steep slope before I got to it. So again no pictures.
Leopard snake (Zamenis situla)
Last but not least. A very welcome surprise. After a really touristic day visiting a monastery and aquarium in a very crowded town and feeling sick from a glass-bottom boat cruise (to see the fishies
same fishes as I just saw in the aquarium) I'm not very seaworthy! We drove uphill to visit the castle. I expected to find again a crowded place full of sunburned Brits but the busses cannot reach the castle because of the narrow winding road, so instead stop a kilometer before at a viewing point. Of the people that do reach the castle by quad or car, half of them take a picture and turn back as they see the steep 100 meter long stairs leading up to the entrance. So it was rather calm up there!Litteraly at the gate of the castle on the narrow stairway I picked up a small snake while carrying a two-year old on my shoulders while just at least 10 people had passed the same spot. It turned out to be a striped phase:
What can I say, clearly years of experience in looking for snakes, starts to pay off
So that's it.
I missed some species but I cannot say I searched for them specifically. If you don't flip many stones you cannot expect to find Worm snake. I wish I had some more energy to do some night searches for Telescopus but I needed the sleep and there wasn't really suitable habitat close to our hotel.
The only strange thing: although I never searched for it, I would have expected to see some Grass snakes.
A perfect family holiday. I really like Corfu. A limited amount of effort and still so many beautiful things seen.
Greetings
Bert
