Montenegro May 2015

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Montenegro May 2015

Postby Rémon ter Harmsel » Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:15 pm

Having heard some good stories about Montenegro over time, me and a friend decided to check it out this May, from 19th untill the 26th!
Actually, our trip was supposed to start on the 18th, but when we were checked in at the airport and ready to board for Vienna and then the next plane to Podgorica, we were informed that there was something wrong with the plane and the staff where also not fit to fly :shock:. This took some time, but then the final verdict came that we could not depart at all that day, so we had to take the next flight 24 hours later. Pretty bummed of course, since this would also mess with our tight schedule to see as much of the country as possible...

So about 20 hours later we were again at the airport, and after a smooth flight to Vienna and a run towards the next plane (only 40 minutes stopover time), we arrived somewhere around 14.30 in sunny Podgorica! We quickly picked up our rental car, payed some more for a navigation device (which turned out to be absolutely worthless as it didn't know many streets and took some very weird routes) we were good to go! We drove straight north towards Kolasin, planning to visit Biogradska Gora the next day. Eager to find some animals, we stopped at a random site along the road, and quickly found Lacerta viridis, Vipera ammodytes, Natrix tessellata, Anguis graeca, Algyroides nigropunctatus and a DOR Pseudopus apodus. As we already missed one day due to the plane trouble, we decided to skip going east to find Dinarolacerta montenegrina. We found a nice little hotel on the road towards Biogradska, enjoyed some local cuisine (which comes in HUGE portions) and since temperatures were quite low, called it a night.

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Moraca river
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L. viridis


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N. tessellata


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V. ammodytes


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V. ammodytes


In the evening at the hotel we talked to the owners about our plans to go up the mountains in Biogradska the next morning. The informed us it would be very cold early morning (only a few degrees above 0C), so we decided to spend the early morning on the foot of the mountain. We found some more A. fragilis, V. ammodytes, Podarcis muralis and some DOR Salamandra salamandra. Apparently it had rained that night, without us noticing... We failed finding any live ones. Next we drove up towards the still partly covered in snow mountain tops, looking for Vipera ursinii. Apparently the hotel owners were not very well aware of the weather conditions around the corner, as it was already quite warm when we got there. Because snow was still covering a part of the road, we had to walk for for a bit to reach the top. We spent several hours looking, but could find only Zootoca vivipera. We anticipated a difficult search, having read some herp-reports, but failing to find a single animal still came as a disappointment. The scenery was stunning however, which took away a bit of the pain.

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Snow blocking the road
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Z. vivipara


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Biogradska Gora NP


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Biogradska Gora NP


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Biogradska Gora NP


On our way down at the end of the afternoon, we decided to have a look at a promising hill close to the valley, which turned out to be quite productive with Ichthyosaura alpestris, P. muralis, Lacerta agilis and two Vipera berus! Along the river we also found Rana temporaria and Bombina variegata. Still bummed about missing a day of our holiday we made the decision to not stay another night and try again in the morning, but drove west, with a short stop along the borders of the lake in the middle of the park, where several Bufo bufo where still in the middle of their mating season.

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P. muralis


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I. alpestris


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L. agilis


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V. berus bosniensis


We found a random roadside hotel in Mojkovac where we had dinner and went to bed. The next morning we explored the surrounding areas, finding Zamenis longissimus, L. viridis en P. muralis.

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Z. longissimus


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Z. longissimus


As the weather was turning bad, cold and chances of rain, we changed plans from driving further West towards Durmitor NP to driving towards the coast, where the weather was still good. Along the way found a load of DOR's, including Pelophylax ridibundus, P. apodus, Natrix natrix and Hierophis gemonensis. We drove towards Cetinje, wanting to visit Lovcen NP the next day. Near Cetinje we found our first live P. apodus, Testudo hermanni, a bunch of Lissotriton vulgaris and saw some Triturus macedonicus swimming.

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L. vulgaris graecus


We continued up towards Lovcen NP to look for Dinarolacerta mosorensis, but with bad weather following us and chilly temperatures already halfway up the mountain, we found not a single active herp. Again bummed, we drove all the way towards the coast and took the windy road down towards the beautiful town of Kotor. We found a nice B&B kind of hotel, had a huge steak in the old city, didnt really look for the non-native population of Podarcis siculus. The steak turned out to be not really well done, as I spent some time hanging over a bucket at night, trying to get rid of it again (at which I failed).

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Kotor bay


The next morning the drove towards Budva, finding Mauremys rivulata, a load of P. apodus, some T. hermanni, N. natrix and Emys orbicularis.

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P. apodus


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E. orbicularis


We continued east along the coast towards Buljarica swamp, where we found Lacerta trilineata, Pelophylax shqipericus, E. orbicularis and M. rivulata while it started raining again. We booked a hotel in Sutomore on the coast, had dinner in the rain and called it a day.

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L. trilineata


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P. shqipericus


The next day we drove east along the coast, to explore Ada Island and surroundings, on the border with Albania. This proved to be one of the most productive areas, with N. natrix being extremely abundant. They got run over a lot as well, as we could easily find about 5 of 6 DOR's which had not been there a few hours earlier. Extrapolate this for a couple of months and the massacre probably runs in the hundreds. E. orbicularis, P. apodus, T. hermanni, Rana dalmatina, Podarcis melisellensis, A. graeca, B. bufo, N. tessellata, P. shqipericus, P. ridibundus and quite some V. ammodytes where also found. A number of Malpolon insignitus were observed racing off in the heat of the day. On the way back we also found DOR Dolichophis caspius en H. gemonensis. After dinner we did a night drive, but with temperatures dropping again rapidly, we only found some DOR P. apodus and heard some Hyla arborea calling in the distance.

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T. hermanni


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P. melisellensis


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A. graeca with nice blue coloration


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V. ammodytes


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V. ammodytes


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And more V. ammodytes


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P. melisellensis


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N. tessellata


The next morning we drove up towards Lake Skadar, where we explored the southern banks. Nothing new under the sun, but at one site we found about 30 T. hermanni in the same amount of minutes. Insane! At and abandoned fisherman village we found a few stunning Dalmatolacerta oxycephala. Also found our first and only Platyceps najadum up in the mountains surroundin the lake. In the late afternoon we took a boat cruise on the lake, which mainly resulted in some birdlife and cold wind.

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H. gemonensis
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Abandoned fishermen village


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N. natrix


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D. oxycephala


During the night it rained, thunder, lightning and more rain, which continued well into the next day. Around noon the clouds broke, and with half the day already gone we decided to have another look at Ada Island. More of the same, but with the abundance of animals still very productive.

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M. insignitus


The next day we packed our bags and drove to Lovcen NP again, to have another try at finding D. mosorensis. Weather in the mountains was a bit better than the first time we tried, but unfortunately only P. muralis and D. oxycephala where out and about, so again no luck. After about a 2 hour search, we headed to the airport where we dropped of the car again and had a smooth flight to Vienna and then Amsterdam.

All in all a very fun and quite productive trip, with some bad weather and a missed day due to airplane trouble leading to missing some desired species, but definitely worth another visit!

Total species list:
1 Emys orbicularis
2 Testudo hermanni
3 Mauremys rivulata
4 Algyroides nigropunctatus
5 Dalmatolacerta oxycephala
6 Lacerta agilis
7 Lacerta trilineata
8 Lacerta viridis
9 Podarcis melisellensis
10 Podarcis muralis
11 Zootoca vivipara
12 Anguis graeca
13 Pseudopus apodus
14 Dolichophis caspius
15 Hierophis gemonensis
16 Malpolon insignitus
17 Natrix natrix
18 Natrix tessellata
19 Platyceps najadum
20 Zamenis longissimus
21 Vipera ammodytes
22 Vipera berus
23 Bombina variegata
24 Bufo bufo
25 Hyla arborea - only heard calling
26 Ichthyosaura alpestris
27 Lissotriton vulgaris
28 Pelophylax ridibundus
29 Pelophylax shqipericus
30 Rana dalmatina
31 Rana temporaria
32 Salamandra salamandra - only DOR
33 Triturus macedonicus
Rémon ter Harmsel
 
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Re: Montenegro May 2015

Postby Rémon ter Harmsel » Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:16 pm

Mario: I see some pictures are flipped, though when I uploaded them they were OK. If you can get them switched back, please do so :lol:
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Re: Montenegro May 2015

Postby Peter Oefinger » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:29 am

Sounds like a great trip with nice findings - congrats!
Spoiling one's stomach in Kotor seems to be a good tradition - I know other people who did so :lol:
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Re: Montenegro May 2015

Postby Maarten Gilbert » Fri Jul 24, 2015 10:19 am

Great combination of species and landscapes. That Dalmatolacerta is a stunner!
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Re: Montenegro May 2015

Postby Martti Niskanen » Fri Jul 24, 2015 1:08 pm

Very nice post. What a successful trip.
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Re: Montenegro May 2015

Postby Laura Bok » Sat Jul 25, 2015 10:50 am

Very nice post! Montenegro once more proves to be a rewarding destination for the summer months! Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Montenegro May 2015

Postby Mario Schweiger » Sun Jul 26, 2015 6:29 am

Very nice pictures and report!
I turned now the picture "snow blocked the road" now. Unfortunately I deleted the 2nd picture (2nd view of Moraca river) before saving it to my hard drive - sorry :oops:
When pictures are shown turned: Most image viewing programs turn pictures in the right direction (by EXIF data), but unfortunately not the forum software!?

Btw, did you find Malpolon on Ada island or nearby in the more dry surroundings? Never saw a Malpolon on Ada, but a "few meters" near by on mainland
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Re: Montenegro May 2015

Postby Rémon ter Harmsel » Sun Jul 26, 2015 6:51 pm

Thanks guys!

Mario: the picture is fine when I upload it, but once it's on the server it gets flipped, for some reason. Don't mind the rivier picture, wasn't that important :)
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Re: Montenegro May 2015

Postby Rémon ter Harmsel » Mon Jul 27, 2015 8:06 am

Mario Schweiger wrote:Btw, did you find Malpolon on Ada island or nearby in the more dry surroundings? Never saw a Malpolon on Ada, but a "few meters" near by on mainland


Same here! The areas surrounding the island where all in all better than the island itself.
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