Alsace - Lorraine

France, British isles

Alsace - Lorraine

Postby Bert Vandebosch » Sat May 17, 2014 10:04 pm

Hi,

Previous weekend I made a short trip to the north east of France with a few friends.
The main goal was to find Spadefoot toads (Pelobates fuscus). It was a very wet weekend, ideal to observe amphian activity.
So besides our target we saw also a big amount of other species. On Sunday we drove more to the west and were very lucky to find a few Asp vipers (Vipera aspis) on a rare sunny moment.

Some pictures:

First we made a stop at some ponds with an introduced population of Fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina). Hundreds of animals were calling but we didn't bring a net so no pictures apart from a single juvenile.
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At the pelobates spot hundreds of Tree frogs (Hyla arborea) were out and about and all three species of waterfrog were observed...
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Edible frog (Pelophylax kl. esculentus):
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We found 3 Spadefoots on the track:
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Strange enough only one "Common" toad (Bufo bufo):
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In a pond we saw a few Northern crested newts (Triturus cristatus)

The next day on top and underneath the same metal plate: :D
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Just before another thunder storm we also found some Slow worms (Anguis fragilis):
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male and female together:
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The rain made us decide to change location to an old quarry with a big pond in it.
Here we observed a lot of newts in the water: Alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris), Palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus) and again Northern crested newt.
A lot of Midwife toads started calling and we found many under stones...
...also two Smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca), a Wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) and a subadult crested newt:
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Even with a damaged eye, this one can get some eggs:
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Then we got fed up with the rain and drove back north with this scenery:
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Greetings


Bert
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Re: Alsace - Lorraine

Postby Julius Zidorn » Sat May 17, 2014 10:16 pm

Very nice findings and great shots!
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Re: Alsace - Lorraine

Postby Mario Schweiger » Sun May 18, 2014 10:23 am

love the shot with the 2 Hyla males: noise competition :lol:
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Please visit also my personal Herp-site vipersgarden.at
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Re: Alsace - Lorraine

Postby Andre Schmid » Mon May 19, 2014 5:45 am

Nice, Looks like a nice shorttrip to France :) ! I like the Asp-Vipers.
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Re: Alsace - Lorraine

Postby miguel santos » Mon May 19, 2014 7:24 am

Indeed, I never went to the Alsace before but it is worth a visit. Nice viper.
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Re: Alsace - Lorraine

Postby Pierre-Yves Vaucher » Mon May 19, 2014 8:22 am

superb !
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Re: Alsace - Lorraine

Postby Bobby Bok » Mon May 19, 2014 2:55 pm

That must have been a great weekend Bert, highlights are the Pelobates, the calling Hyla, the grey Hyla and the Alytes with eggs. Great finds!
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Re: Alsace - Lorraine

Postby Bert Vandebosch » Mon May 19, 2014 3:02 pm

Thanks you all.

Indeed it was a nice weekend.
Now I'm off for a family holiday to Corfu. Hope to be able to show you some more nice stuff in a couple of weeks!!!

Bert
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Re: Alsace - Lorraine

Postby GertJan Verspui » Mon May 26, 2014 6:20 pm

Bertje, you succeeded, very nice, those pelobates are great, good luck on Corfu!
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