The obligatory trip to Carinthia (and Slovenia), May 2024
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Back from polar lights (still: yeeeeha!) to herpetology: a trip report from 2 days in Carinthia/Austria and one in Slovenia. In advance I can happily note: all pics – except for one obvious – are made in-situ! 🥳
Meanwhile on the border to tradition, Günther (who is of course again writing a book, the grasshoppers of Carinthia, to be published), Christoph and I visited Carinthia, including one day in Slovenia. Planned was to visit Slovenia only, to search on the mystic three-viper-mountain (mainly because of Vipera aspis), but then the weather conditions were not well enough, so we stayed in Carinthia and made only a daytrip over the border. Originally also a fourth colleague wanted to join, but then decided to go birding in the Seewinkel region instead (shame!).
To say it up front: We didn’t see a single viper in Slovenia. Ouch. On the way there we were sure to easily find at least two out of the three species (Vipera aspis/Apsisviper/asp viper, Vipera ammodytes/Hornotter/horned viper, Vipera berus/Kreuzotter/common European viper), even more so the exact locations exist online, but well, nope. Whatever the reason might have been. The weather honestly was not good (mostly cloudy and coldish), but maybe we were also lousy searchers. So, lots of driving, hiking und dozens (!) of ticks for seeing some very common lizard species (common wall lizard/Mauereidechse/Podarcis muralis, green lizard/Smaragdeidechse/Lacerta “viridis” [should be “adreatic lineage”], slow worm/Blindschleiche/Anguis fragilis), that we could have also spotted 5 minutes away from our accommodation in Carinthia. To save our honour: Later we found out that also other people were there without success concerning vipers, or without seeing Vipera aspis.
 Habitat of Vipera ammodytes, Vipera aspis and Vipera berus. |
So that was Slovenia, on the first day.
Coming back to our accommodation in Arnoldstein (the Wallnerwirt, highly recommendable for its food, amazing Kärntner (Kas-)Nudeln [some yummy local type of filled dumplings] and breakfast) there waited a big surprise: While shortly interrupting our whining around why we didn’t find anything, suddenly the field trip leader of the Styrian ÖGH group entered the bathroom, and happily noticed: Yeah, 19 people of ours are sitting upstairs around the corner and we are on a field trip in Carinthia.😄So the evening program for the next days was clear, sitting together with beer and discussing herps and why (not) finding them. One big part of this chitchat, by the way, is to exactly tell where and how you found some stuff. “So yeah, in country XY, when you drive that little gravel path from village Furtheraway to Nooneknows, behind the 3rd bush after the second crossing, on the left side, 3 meters before the border to country XZ, between the brown houses (made of wood!), THERE is lots of lizards/snakes YZ”. But every now and then these stories develop a minor problem: They often took place years in the past, so in reality it looks completely different nowadays und you will find everything overgrown or a big hotel complex.
 Aglais urticae, Kleiner Fuchs, small tortoiseshell. |
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| Right next to the accommodation is a population of introduced Podarcis muralis, with an incredible density of individuals. | |
And of course, you also discuss what you found during your current field trip, and from our 19 Styrian colleagues we heard, that they already found some vipers (V. ammodytes) here, some 15 minutes away! So, the bar was set high for us, and we couldn’t wait to search for V. ammodytes the next day in the Schütt region. And we already knew we had to do the one thing: Suachn suachn suachn! (dialect for: search search search!).
And boy, did we! On the next day we found in a quite short amount of time two juvenile and one adult male V. ammodytes, as well as a juvenile Zamenis longissimus/Äskulapnatter/Aesculapian snake, which are usually not that easy to find. And of course several lizards were out too.
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| Podarcis muralis and Vipera ammodytes (left juvenile, right adult male) |
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 Vipera ammodytes, With lots of patience these macro-shots were possible 😀. |
 Lacerta viridis, a beautiful buck, but very shy, also here: lots of patience |
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| Podarcis muralis, Lacerta viridis and Vipera ammodytes. |
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 Podarcis muralis, male |
Also, our plan to first have a short look for V. ammodytes and then drive to further away locations with Iberolacerta horvathi/Kroatische Gebirgseidechse/Horvath’s rock lizard has worked out well. Of the latter we found about 70 specimens.
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| Iberolacerta horvathi |
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 Loooots of Iberolacerta horvathi |
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And here a short video of Iberolacerta horvathi, I promise to make it less shaky and zoomy the next time 😬 |
But the real highlight there was having both Zootoca species (Z. vivipara/Bergeidechse/viviparous lizard and Z. carniolica/Kärntner Bergeidechse/Carniolan lizard) on one mountain and finding both. Z. carniolica in the lower altitudes, syntop with I. horvathi (even sitting on the same stone and interacting) and Z. vivipara on the higher altitudes. And thanks to this publication (Rodriguez-Prieto, A. et al., 2017) we were even able to distinguish them in the field. 😀Somehow it's very exciting, after counting scales and femoral pores, to know which species you were actually seeing!
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| Left: Zootoca vivipara (with maaaybe influence of Z. carniolica), and right Zootoca carniolica. And yes, the left one is taking a nap. Z. vivipara tends to calm down very quickly if you handle them very carefully. |
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 Zootoca carniolica, female |
Later that day I also earned a free beer for finding the car keys Christoph lost somewhere in the middle of a big meadow, potentially leaving us locked out at 1.500 m.a.s.l., with very dark clouds approaching. Actually, the way how they were found was fun – by the pictures he took we reconstructed his path on the meadow which finally led to finding the keys. So, V. ammodytes: check, I. horvathi: check, both Zootoca species: check aaaand free beer: check!
On the last day we just had a short look for V. ammodytes in the Schütt region because we didn’t want to go back to Vienna too late, on a well-known spot, which just unfortunately has pretty difficult terrain. After staggering over the stones for quite some time and already close to giving up, Günther found a juvenile V. ammodytes basking some dozen centimetres above the ground on a branch of a pine tree, in the shades.
 Vipera ammodytes, exactly as found. |
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| Left: The obligatory Podarcis muralis and right Günther clicking V. ammodytes. |
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 Vipera ammodytes, exactly as found. |
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And here a short video of Vipera ammodytes basking in the habitat, also here I promise to make it less shaky and zoomy the next time 😬 |
So, day saved, and we could leave Carinthia with the feeling of actually having made many nice observations. Ah, and concerning shade, half of the V. ammodytes specimens we found were in shade or half-shade, even though it was not that warm and in the middle of May.
On the way back we then had the obligatory stop at the Hirter brewery, having beer and Kärntner Kasnudeln, devouring them for a third time within four days 😋.
To sum it up, a really nice and relaxing field trip, but still with a score to settle (because it was the reason we actually went on field trip): Vipera aspis.
Oh and not to forget: The obligatory music tip! This time: Käptn Peng & die Tentakel von Delphi with "Sockosophie".
Polar lights!!!111eleven
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I am thrilled, amazed, simply completely beside myself with enthusiasm!!
For the first time in my life, I could witness polar lights – right in front and shortly also above my home 🥳
So after seeing Halos (regularly) and once also NLCs, with the polar lights my collection of atmospheric phenomena I wanted to see in real is now complete!
A huge thanks to by brother who pointed out to me on the telephone that “the sky is weirdly red”, whereupon I packed my camera equipment in record time and ran to the danube river. There I clicked, completely without an idea which settings I should actually use, the following images.
Note: Those are long time exposures. The real impression was by far fainter. Most of the time the colours were barely visible, only for a short period the red and purple were clear and bright. The green was always on the edge of visibility and more like a brighter region.
Anyhow I’m absolutely happy to finally witness polar lights🥳
For the first time in my life, I could witness polar lights – right in front and shortly also above my home 🥳
So after seeing Halos (regularly) and once also NLCs, with the polar lights my collection of atmospheric phenomena I wanted to see in real is now complete!
A huge thanks to by brother who pointed out to me on the telephone that “the sky is weirdly red”, whereupon I packed my camera equipment in record time and ran to the danube river. There I clicked, completely without an idea which settings I should actually use, the following images.
Note: Those are long time exposures. The real impression was by far fainter. Most of the time the colours were barely visible, only for a short period the red and purple were clear and bright. The green was always on the edge of visibility and more like a brighter region.
Anyhow I’m absolutely happy to finally witness polar lights🥳
The first images were shot with 25 sec, ISO 1250, F 5.6
From here on 15 sec, ISO 1250, F 5.0
For a short period they were even directly above my observation point.
Canary Islands: La Gomera and Tenerife, March 2023
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Now for the second part of our trip -- Tenerife and La Gomera!
One thing in advance for people interested in biology: There is a Canary-/canariensis of everything! Sooooo many endemic* species! Pick any random genus you like and you will have an endemic for sure: liverworts, random other plants, birds, spiders, snails, grasshoppers... And even more ex-beings, because the influence of the humans likely resulted in eradication of numerous species. Ah yes, I didn't forget, and reptiles of course! Namely (besides some geckos and skinks) lizards of the genus Gallotia, the different Canary lizards, which only exist there, some of them even only on one island.
*endemic means, that a species/genus occurs only in a single geographic region, for example an island or mountain range. So animals of an endemic species of the Canary Islands exist only on the Canary Islands and nowhere else in the world.
So what shall I say, countless endemic (sub-)species -- biologist's heart, what more do you want? Ah, btw., the app iNaturalist turned out to be very useful, we got plenty of help from the community in determining taxa; from liverwort over grasshopper to skeletonized puffins and more :-D
Back to the trip: after visiting southern Spain we were flying directly from Malaga to Tenerife North, rented a car (from Cicar car rental, recommended, because you can change islands with the same car), went shortly to the northern parts of the island for a coffee and cake at Cafe Melita (with amaaazing view to the sea and the surfers, such a nice place to be and relax for some hours) and then continued, still on the same day, via ferry to La Gomera.
La Gomera is a beautiful island, with still a comparatively small amount of tourists and has only one downside: there are not many straight meters of street on that island. Things to do there? Going hiking in wonderful landscapes, watching lizards, enjoying the richness of nature and just relax. One of the two lacertid species there is very common: Gallotia caesaris gomerae (Kleine Kanareneidechse / Boettger's lizard). Here a typical coloured female:
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Below left a male of the same species (Gallotia caesaris gomerae), and on the right the skink Chalcides coeruleopunctatus (Südlicher Kanarenskink, La Gomera Skink), which is found only on El Hierro and La Gomera.
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And another male of Gallotia caesaris gomerae. They were actually more shy than I expected, which was the reason I needed to use the 300mm/4.0 lens, resulting in poorer image quality than with the macro lens.
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Conerning the second, and very rare (likely one of the rarest on earth), lizard species on La Gomera, Gallotia bravoana: we didn't even try to find it. It only occurs in a very small, difficult to walk in area, so not a good goal for a honeymoon :-P There would be a breeding station, but you don't find any possibility to contact them, except for a post adress in a herpetological field guide (which we found out too late). So with more effort we would have maybe seen it, but we decided to spend the time otherwise.
...landscapes! Like always, I was too lazy to change lenses, so there are only few landscape pictures. Left: the view from the tree heath/lorel forests towards Tenerife and the Teide volcano. The clouds are the typical trade wind/passat clouds that make the laurel forests possible. Right: random evening view on La Gomera.
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Also an interesting experience, being of volcanic origin, the sand on (some?) beaches of La Gomera is black.
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Another cool thing existing on La Gomera is the whistling language "El silbo", one of the most developed whistling languages on earth -- you can really "talk" with it and it's taught on schools! The first time I heard it, I was wondering which weird type of bird is calling like that...
After some 5 or 6 days of hiking on La Gomera we went back by ferry to Tenerife. It's approximately one hour of ride, and everything, including taking the rental car, went smoothly. On Tenerife we were situated in the Casa Rural Arona, a wonderful place where you get an amazing and extensive, freshly prepared vegetarian or vegan breakfast every morning.
Tenerife is the biggest of the Canary Islands, and a main part of it is the volcano Teide -- with 3.715 m the actually highest mountain of "Spain". Funfact: geologists think, that it might have been even over 7.000 m, before the top of the volcano broke off and slid into the sea.
The diversity of volcanic landscapes is amazing, and there are also several smaller extinct volcanoes to visit on the island. So we were also mainly hiking. My personal goals on Tenerife were: clicking and feeding lizards and finding Gallotia intermedia, one of the rare "giant" lizard species of the Canaries. And we luckily succeeded with both 🥳
Photographing the on Tenerife very common Gallotia galloti (Tenerife Lizard, Westkanaren Eidechse) is luckily easy, meaning I could use my 180mm/2.8 macro lens without problems. These lizards are not shy, and can, with a bit of patience, even be fed with fruits or bread, especially in regions with many tourists. The north of Tenerife is inhabited by the more colourful subspecies Gallotia galloti eisentrauti. We were, at least I think so, just before the mating season, so the males were not in full bright mating colouration.
Anyhow, they are still very pretty animals, the top two pictures are males of Gallotia galloti eisentrauti, the bottom picture a is female of the same subspecies, all from the very north of Tenerife.
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Regarding the plants, there are soo many different things to see. Two of the species which especially catch your eye in the drier southern parts of Tenerife are Euphorbia canariensis (Kanaren-Wolfsmilch, Canary Island spurge) and Lavandula sp. (lavander, Lavendel). Of the latter there are 3 Canary-endemics on Tenerife (one of them being a canariensis, how else could it be :-P). Stupid me realised too late, that there are three species, so I couldn't determine them. The Euphorbia canariensis are huuuge, several meter high plants and an imposing appearance (upper picture). And the lavander gave you an impression of spring in the otherwise arid landscape (lower three pictures).
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In those drier central and southern parts of Tenerife, you can find the second subspecies Gallotia galloti galloti more or less everywhere, in changing abundancies. It is less colourful than the subspecies of the northern parts, eisentrauti, but still always a pleasure to click. Top left: a female, the rest are males.
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One of our last hikes went on a short tour to the plateau of Teide at approx. 2.200 m.a.s.l. around the Roques de García. Volcanic landscapes and frozen lava fields whereever you look. because of much dust in the air, short before twilight it looked like on another planet. Top left: view to the top of Teide (which we didn't reach, because you need to buy a ticket for the lift several days in advance, and reaching the top requires booking for it even several months before). Top right: a part of the Roques de García. Bottom: Sunset seen from the Roques de García, like views from another planet...
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Besides being a hiking paradise, the Canary Islands provide perfect conditions for (kite) surfing. Two or three times we were just sitting with ice cream or in a café and watching them having fun. It's really impressive what they are doing, some of the kite surfers even performing acrobatic moves hiiigh above the water (on the following picture is a just little, below average jump ^^).
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Like quite often on (field) trips, the main highlight happens on the last day. I mentioned that I also wanted to see Gallotia intermedia (Tenerife Speckled Lizard, Gesprenkelte Kanareneidechse), one of the very rare "giant" lizards of the canary islands. It is found only on two (maybe three) places on Tenerife, is therefore one of the rarest lizards on earth, and I really wanted to see it. So we devoted a full day just for finding and photographing one.
Well, after hours of searching without results (only Gallotia galloti), being exhausted from heat and running around in hard terrain, I was already giving up. But then my better half saved the day twice. First she directed me to the place where they were actually sitting ("But we didn't look in that corner over there"). There I only saw something which couuuuld have been a larger grey something, but just slipping down from a stone in the corner of my eye. So I waited there for 20 minutes that it shows up again - in vain. Again I gave up and was about to head back to the car (in very bad mood) when my wife saved the day a second time, calling me with "there is a big lizard here, could that be one?". Well -- it wasn't, it was "just" a pretty big specimen of Gallotia galloti, but 2 meters behind it, there was suddenly basking the so much wanted Gallotia intermedia!! I felt such relieve! And in the end we found 3,5 of them, all within maybe 100 or 200 meters (0,5 counting the grey something from before).
So here they are, pictures of Gallotia intermedia (Tenerife Speckled Lizard, Gesprenkelte Kanareneidechse), my personal biological highlight of the trip!
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So to sum this southern Spain/Canaries honeymoon trip up: it was an amazing combination of culture, hiking, nature observation and a bit of herping too (with eventually great results 🥳 )!
...we just maybe should have taken more than one resting/relaxing day in three weeks :-D
Ah, the obligatory music reference in the end: I have to repeat that I'm still amazed by the Jezabels' album Synthia, especially Stand and Deliver, Unnatural and Stamina.
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