Monday/Tuesday 13+14 July
After spending a few months at home and unable to go to work I was finally made redundant by the company I worked for. This was the moment I had been waiting for and quickly booked a return ticket on the eurotunnel. I had spent my time wisely and after studying various websites had a few locations to visit and tick off a few species.
I saw that my route took me right past a location in Northern France where I had previously seen Parsley Frogs Pelodytes punctatus and although it was now July it seemed rude not to stop and have a look to see if there was any water in the ponds. A quick walk up the hill revealed the obvious, they were bone dry but it was nice to see some Glow worms shining in the wood. Back on the road again and heading for Switzerland, I pulled into a fuel station to stretch my legs and admire the view of Lake Geneva and saw my first herps of the trip, a few Wall lizards Podarcis muralis sunning themselves on the wooden fence. Moving on from here and a few hundred metres from my first destination I pulled into a car parking area among the trees, a good place for a cup of tea. I put the kettle on and as I waited I flipped a stone to reveal my first target species,The Alpine Salamander Salamandra atra. Well that was easy and put me ahead of schedule so I carried on up the road to my destination where I had a quick walk around found a couple of Common toads Bufo bufo.
2 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
3 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrNo need to stay here any longer than neccesary so I began the 4 hour drive to my next stop in Italy. I headed up towards the Great St Bernard tunnel and then took the side road over the mountain avoiding the toll. A pool of water below a snow bank was full of tadpoles and spawn remnants but no sign of any other amphibians here. I stopped at the bottom of the hill in an area where I had previously found an Asp Vipera aspis but despite checking along the broken down walls all I could find was a single Common Frog Rana temporaria
14 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
18 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrAs I drove up the long climb to my destination in the early evening a few rain drops appeared on my windscreen and I hoped this would bring a few Lanza's salamanders Salamandra lanzai out. I chose the lower section of the site and after parking the van I took a walk along the track smiling to myself that I had reached a place I had always wanted to visit. I headed over to a few small streams and began to flip a few stones finding nothing, the heavens then opened and my waterproofs were back in the van! Half an hour later I was completely soaked and upset at my lack of success. I looked up the valley and considered walking from here or going back to the van, dry clothes ,waterproofs and driving . I walked up the bank towards the track dripping with water and said to myself "I am f*****g soaked, wouldn't it be great if there was one on the track" Believe it or not, I stepped onto the track and there was a Lanza's salamander walking towards me! I took a few hurried rubbish photos in the rain and headed back with a smile on my face.The weather had improved by morning but the mission was complete.
24 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
25 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
26 (1) by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrWednesday 15th
After a much needed sleep I headed south to visit a cave for the third time hoping to find Speleomantes strinatii, the last cave salamander on my list to tick. I saw the usual P muralis on the wall by the holy statues and carried on along the track but was shocked to see a small group of archeologists outside the cave, they had scraped all the loose soil,stones and undergrowth away from the cave entrance area looking for artifacts. I carried on checking a nearby cave and flipping lots of stones but only finding a few scorpions.
I left here and drove to a site for the Italian Agile Frog Rana latastei, there are a couple of ponds here in the wood and I hoped to flip one under a log or something similar. It was a long shot but as I was in the area I had to check. I turned a few logs but found nothing and then walked along the edge of the pond slowly. There was a loud plop as a frog took off from the bank and landed at my feet, I slowly tilted the camera and took a couple of photos before it disappeared into the pond, just my luck a Pelophylax sp! Nothing else here apart from lots of P muralis so I began my 11 hour drive to the Pyrenees arriving at 01:00 am.
29 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrThursday 16th
Up early and a long walk to the Aurelio's rock lizard site finding lot's of tadpoles and a couple of adult R temporaria in trackside pools. I had set off too early and had to wait for the sun to climb over the hill and warm the rocks. A pair of Chamois R rupicapra were a welcome distraction as I waited but eventually the sun crept down the scree slope and I began my search soon finding a lizard creeping about between the rocks. A leisurely stroll downhill in the sunshine back to the van pausing to watch a Marmot M marmota and then onto a site for Sand lizard Lacerta agilis garzoni. A beautiful site with great views, lots of wild flowers and even more P muralis which is sadly all I could find so I left here dropped down through Andorra and onto my next stop in Spain for the Aran rock lizard Iberolacerta aranica. I parked the van in a small parking area by a stream, put the kettle on and turned a couple of stones in the stream quickly finding another target species the Pyrenean Brook Newt Calotriton asper.
32 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
37 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
38 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
40 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
41 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
42 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrFriday 17th
Up early again and a long walk to the I aranica site, it didn't look like this on Google earth. Eventually I arrived at the site but once again had to wait for the sun to appear so I carried on up the track to pass the time and admire the views. I made my way back and immediatly saw an I aranica sunning itself on a wall. I crept forward and took a few photos which was lucky as it was the only specimen I saw despite waiting for the morning to warm up and also checking the rest of the structures and walls. As usual there were lots of P muralis on site. Having seen one there was no point hanging around for more so I began the long walk back and then a few hours drive west for the Pyrenean Rock Lizard Iberolacerta bonnali.
It was very hot when I arrived on site and so I parked in the shade with other campers, had a cold beer from the cafe and began searching finding only P muralis and R temporaria.
52a by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
52 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
55 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
57 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
60 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
67 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
69a by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrSaturday 18th
Back searching at 08:30 and already it seemed too hot. I searched everywhere and once again found only P muralis they seemed to be everywhere. After a while the lack of success and heat got to me and I started to walk back to the van to get some cash for a cold drink, discipline kicked in and I returned to search the area behind some buildings. I then saw a lizard unlike the P muralis I had been seeing all morning and quickly took a couple of photos before it crept beneath a stone. Feeling flushed with success I left here and drove 4 hours west to Irati forest hoping to find the Pyrenean stream frog Rana pyrenaica. I walked up a small rocky stream and found a Fire salamander S salamandra beneath a stone which was unexpected and decided to return later with a torch.
I managed to find wifi in a local cafe and filled in my covid tracing form needed for return to UK and also contacted Jeroen Speybroek for some frog tips. I was surprised to find that he was also in the Irati forest but left my intrusion to a simple message.He kindly gave me some info but I decided to leave it for another time and later returned to my earlier location where I found another two S salamandra, B spinosus and another C asper.
73 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
74 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
76 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrSunday 19th
I began the long journey home and stopped at some lakes near Bordeaux where I had previously stopped with Suzanne, it was nice to be on familiar ground but the only herps seen were a single Marsh frog P ribidundas and P muralis. I did manage to photograph a few Odonata that I hadn't seen before which made up for the lack of herps. A few hours later and I arrived at a friend's house where Suzanne and I had stayed in 2008, it was good to catch up with them and drink a few ciders
78 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrYellow Clubtail Gomphus simillimus
80 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrSmall Pincertail Onchogomphus forcipatus
82 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrSouthern Emeral damselfly Lestes barbarus
85 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrRed Veined Darter Sympetrum fonscolombii
86 by Kevin Byrnes, on FlickrBroad scarlet Crocothemis erythraea
Monday 20th
In the morning I checked a pond where we had found lots of Marbled newts Triturus marmoratus but this time there was a thick layer of duckweed with lots of P ribidundas and Palmate newt Lissotriton helveticus larvae. I said goodbye to my friends and drove to another pond in the village where I found P ribidundas, L helveticus and 2 Juvenile S salamandra. I sat here for a while with memories of happier times and drove home for a week's total of 3057 miles
87 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr
90 by Kevin Byrnes, on Flickr.I got home and didn't feel happy about my photo of I bonnali so I forwarded it to Peter Oefinger and was very embarrassed when he told me it was just a female P muralis. Oh well, guess a return trip is needed.Peter also sent me a photo explaining where they had found I bonnali, it was where I had parked my van !
...a region I want to visit some day