We left the channel tunnel and drove through the night to the Brenne area and pulled up in a car park at 05.30 for a couple of hours sleep, this was followed by a welcome cup of tea and breakfast. Walking around a lake we soon found Wall lizards P muralis, Green lizard L bilineata Wasp spiders Argiope bruennichi and lots of frogs Pelophylax ssp
A Grass snake N natrix was found next to a stream in a nearby village
Lots of Dragonflies and damselflies were seen around the lakes.
Lots of butterflies were seen here including this second generation Map butterfly Araschnia levana
After spending the night on a local farm we headed south to the Dordogne and an area I had visited a few years earlier with friends. We stopped en route by a stream just to look over the bridge and I noticed a Western whip snake H viridiflavus hiding in the grass, I managed a quick photo before it shot off at an insane speed. This was the first one I had seen for a few years and I was happy to tick it off the holiday list.
Half an hour later we saw another larger individual and another grass snake but unfortunately they were both dead on the road.
We arrived at our destination in the late afternoon and parked up by the lakeside where 6 years ago I had found Asps V aspis in a young pine planation. Well, that was six years ago and in April so as you can imagine things looked a bit different now and the site was completely overgrown. As it was now August the woodland paths were now full of people walking and so we held little hope of finding anything. We quickly found the usual L bilineata,P muralis and Pelophylax ssp
We found our usual route blocked and the path diverted, the new path emerging at another lake and I was convinced that we would find nothing and had wasted our time coming here when I spotted this!
I was halfway there with a massive grin on my face when Suzanne shouted "GLOVES", I quickly put my gloves on and lifted the sheet to reveal an Adult Western whip snake H viridiflavus, thinking "It's only a whipsnake" I removed my gloves and within 2 minutes had lost a pint of blood from numerous bites.
We spotted some more sheets but found nothing else.
A Common toad B bufo was found in the evening next to the van
In the morning we looked at a raft provided for European terrapins E orbicularis to bask on but none were present so we drove east hoping to surprise some friends of ours, they surprised us by being in England
. A stop at a village pond gave Palmate newt L helveticus but the other pond where we had previously found Fire salamanders S salamander and Marbled newts T marmoratuswas now covered in a thick blanket of duckweed.
Continuing east we stopped for the night near Coheix on a farm and wandered through the village checking ponds but finding nothing new.
We left the campsite at first light and stopping at a mountain stream gave us Common frog R temporaria
Carrying on with our journey we headed to some roman ruins where we found Catalan wall lizards P liolepis and a juvenile Southern smooth snake C girondica hunting small lizards
We were distracted when we left here by road signs for the Ferme aux crocodiles, we couldn't pass this by and so spent a couple of hours looking at their large collection of assorted species. We reached the next campsite in the early evening and I walked along the side of the grass as Suzanne sorted the van out, I turned a flat stone and was delighted to find a Ladder snake
The next day we drove through the Mount Ventoux region stopping at some high meadows hoping to find Viper ursini but finding just L bilineata and P muralis. The rest of the day was spent driving through the French alps to our evening destination high in the hills, we got our van ready and walked up to a nearby lake flipping stones on the path edge to reveal Alpine newts I alpestris and Viviparous lizards Z vivipara
As we reached the top I could see an animal running away but it was nothing I had ever seen before, I soon realized they were Marmots M marmota and so the stalk began.
A walk around the lake gave only Common frog R temporaria and a return visit at night with a torch to a smaller pond gave onl hungry mosquitos
A restless night due to every cow in town having a huge bell around its' neck was followed by a drive into Switzerland and up into the hills to a lake arriving at midmorning on a very hot day. The walk there from the car park nearly killed us but the views there were well worth it. The first herp was soon found hiding beneath a stone, an Alpine newt I alpestris quickly followed by Viviparous lizard Z vivipara
,Common toad B bufo, Grass snake N natrix and Slow worm A fragilis.A plate of steak and chips with a couple of beers from the beautiful barmaid prepared us for the long walk back to the car.
Next stop was Lake Geneva for a very welcome swim and then a couple of farms on our weary way home.
2120 miles
