Every herpetology enthusiast around the Mediterranean awaits March as if their life depends on it. Indeed, the second season of the year is as good as it gets when it comes to finding reptiles and amphibians in most temperate zones of the world. Nature is also in full bloom, with Mediterranean landscapes looking particularly striking during spring. This year, as soon as spring conditions rolled in, my good friend and colleague Plato and I were out in the field focusing on our field projects. During the first half of the month we were mostly involved with finding skinks in central mainland Greece, particularly Ophiomorus and Chalcides - two species with a very puzzling distribution in the country. We repeteadly visited several localities across four prefectures, yielding several records of ocellated skinks outside the species' known range. We also did a couple of visits to the Peloponnese, which resulted in the only Ophiomorus we saw.
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| Default central Greece habitat |
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| A particularly beautiful Ocellated skink (Chalcides ocellatus) |
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| Female Green toad (Bufotes viridis) |
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| The olive groves were filled with blooming anemones at this time of the year |
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| It might not look like much, but this is heaven for fossorial reptiles |
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| Marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata) in its habitat |
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| A large male Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes) from Attica |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes) |
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| Behind the scenes |
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| Eastern montpellier snake (Malpolon insignitus), Attica |
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| Eastern montpellier snake (Malpolon insignitus), Attica |
Upon reaching the second half of March, we decided it was finally time to launch our first Evia visit of the year, marking the start of a long season of monitoring the island's herpetofauna. Luckily, fellow herpers Mike Manonas and Philippos Katsiyiannis messaged us about their plans of visiting the island too around the same time, so we were not going to be alone. Four herpers is always better than two when the goal is making as many records as possible. We stayed in a studio at the eastern coast of the island for four days. Although the weather was not as good as what we had hoped for, it turned out to be a lovely trip with great company. Among other things, we found quite a few Leopard snakes (Zamenis situla) and Nose-horned vipers (Vipera ammodytes), both species typical for early spring. Ocellated skinks (Chalcides ocellatus) were once again the most commonly encountered species.
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| Dahl's whipsnake (Platyceps najadum), Evia |
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| Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata), Evia |
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| Ophrys aesculapii |
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| Ocellated skink (Chalcides ocellatus), Evia |
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| Ocellated skink (Chalcides ocellatus), Evia |
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| My personal favorite habitat |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), Evia |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), Evia |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), Evia |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), juvenile, Evia |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), juvenile, Evia |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), Evia |
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| Leopard snake (Zamenis situla), Evia |
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| Leopard snake (Zamenis situla), Evia |
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| Leopard snake (Zamenis situla), Evia |
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| Reptile habitat |
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| Balkan spadefoot (Pelobates balcanicus), Evia |
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| Balkan spadefoot (Pelobates balcanicus), Evia |
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| Green toad (Bufotes viridis), Evia |
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| Typical Evia landscape, with hills covered in wind turbines... |
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| An old ruin under an older carob tree |
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| Southern Evia scenery |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes) in its habitat, Evia |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), dorsal view, Evia |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), Evia |
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| Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), Evia |
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| Spring scenery |
Overall, it was a great start to this spring's fieldwork and I am looking forward to peak season. So many ideas and plans, yet so little time...
Species seen
Evia:
Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)
Leopard snake (Zamenis situla)
Dahl's whipsnake (Platyceps najadum)
Eastern montpellier snake (Malpolon insignitus) DOR
Eurasian blind snake (Xerotyphlops vermicularis)
Grass snake (Natrix natrix)
Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata)
Kotschy's gecko (Mediodactylus kotschyi)
Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)
Ocellated skink (Chalcides ocellatus)
Snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii)
Marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata)
Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni)
European pond terrapin (Emys orbicularis)
Balkan terrapin (Mauremys rivulata)
Balkan spadefoot (Pelobates balcanicus)
Green toad (Bufotes viridis)
Common toad (Bufo bufo)
Marsh frog (Pelophylax kurtmuelleri)
European tree-frog (Hyla arborea)
Mainland (+Peloponnese [P]):
Leopard snake (Zamenis situla)
Eurasian blind snake (Xerotyphlops vermicularis)
Eastern montpellier snake (Malpolon insignitus)Dahl's whipsnake (Platyceps najadum) P
Balkan whipsnake (Hierophis gemonensis) P
Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)
Ocellated skink (Chalcides ocellatus)
Snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii)
Marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata)
Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)
Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata)
Glass lizard (Pseudopus apodus)
Greek limbless skink (Ophiomorus punctatissimus) P
Eastern Peloponnese wall lizard (Podarcis thais) P
Kotschy's gecko (Mediodactylus kotschyi) P
Green toad (Bufotes viridis)
Marsh frog (Pelophylax kurtmuelleri)
European tree-frog (Hyla arborea) P