Our second destination was Tavira.
Unfortunately the C.19 restrictions were tightened and we were not
allowed to leave the Concelho (district) of our adress. So the main spot to look for
Chameleons, was not in our district and since the police interviewed us
twice before, we did't want to risk any trouble. The weather also became
a bit more autumn-like, so my hope to find Chameleons... vanished.
After
most of the very cloudy day (14°C) wasted with looking for nice
locations in our district and flipping rocks and stuff (finding nothing
special), we went to the salt pans to look for birds. Birdwatching is
actually fun too and with the proper equipment, it would be even nicer.
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| Egretta garzetta - Little Egret |
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Platalea leucorodia - Eurasian Spoonbill
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Phalacrocorax carbo - Great Cormorant
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Himantopus himantopus - Black-winged Stilt
|
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Too little light for a decent picture, so I took an experimental one
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The
weather forecast for Tavira area (and beyond) was super cloudy and
rainy... so no chance to find reptiles. Sneaky Samira came up with a
nice idea: we rent an additional apartment for one night to be legally
allowed to move to another district. So we went to Monchique, since the
rainy and quite cold weather is sh**ty for reptiles we were hoping to
find close to the beach, but perfect for the Salamanders we would love
to see in the mountains. Thanks to trip reports and google earth I was
very confident I found a good spot. And when we came closer to the
famous picnic site, I noticed some people with flashlights there. Fellow
herpers? :-) ...No. Just some young guys doing something (?) in the
dark drizzle. :-(
A little dissapointed we went past them and focused on our search for Amphibians. Very
soon we found the first Fire Salamander (Salamandra s. crespoi),
followed by some larvas in the stream and 13 adults. Also one
Boscá's Newt was posing perfectly on a mossy stone and two Spiny Toads
showed up. Almost all of the Salamanders were big mommies. After a cold night in the
mountains, we went back to Tavira and made a short stop at the salamander spot for some last shots.
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Fire Salamander - on the move
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| Salamandra s. crespoi - Fire Salamander |
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Bufo spinosus - Spiny Toad
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Fire Salamander larva
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Fire Salamander - with nice red pattern
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| Lissotriton boscai - Boscá's Newt |
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| Salamandra s. crespoi - Fire Salamander |
The
afternoon in Tavira was rainy again so I convinced Samira to do some
road herping with me. We found several Pygmy Marbled Newts and one
Sharp-ribbed Newt. After saving them from the road, I took the
oportunity for some more pictures. (Unfortunately also a few newts were
found DOR).
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| Triturus pygmaeus - Pygmy Marbled Newt |
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Pygmy Marbled Newt - dorsal view
|
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| Pygmy Marbled Newt - portrait |
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| Pleurodeles waltl - Sharp-ribbed Newt |
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Sharp-ribbed Newt - portrait
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Almost the end of our
Algarve trip, the sun showed up again and gave us one last chance to
search for Chameleons. So we checked the dune areas. First we searched
together. After quite a while Samira sat down at the beach, relaxing
like a normal tourist - while I was still staring in the bushes like an
obsessed madman. Shortly after I picked up Samira and went with her
towards the parking lot, I stopped walking and gasped: "I don't believe
it... there is one!" A broad grin, that almost hurt my face was the
result of this last minute observation. Pure joy!
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| Chamaeleo chamaeleon - Mediterranean Chameleon |
Before
our flight back, we had around 1.5 hours time to hike around close to
the airport. We failed to find a second Chameleon, but we were able to
take some pictures of Mediterranean Pond Turtles (Mauremys leprosa).
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| Mauremys leprosa - Mediterranean Pond Turtle |
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| Mauremys leprosa - Mediterranean Pond Turtles |
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| Master of camouflage: Gallinago gallinago - Common snipe |
All in all it was a really nice trip!
- We skipped a coulpe of cold days in Germany
- We enjoyed beautiful beaches
- We saw some amazing herps (including many lifers)
All the good stuff mentioned, two Horseshoe Whip Snakes, escaped without a picture in a stone wall,
several
herp species not observed at all and some places missed due to the
restrictions... many reasons to visit the Algarve again one day.
