Saturday, May 7, 2016

Croatia 5-8 April 2016

By Maykel van Gent and Rob Andriessen


A really condensed herping trip this time around. We would normally have over a week of herping ahead of us. This time we only had 4 days to satisfy our herping needs. So we chose our location carefully, finding the best conditions and location (and cheapest flight) for an optimal herping experience. We booked a last second trip to Zadar, Croatia and our base of operations would be Paklenica National Park, a climbers paradise where bears and wolves are common and many species of herps have been reported.
The local park biologist was very helpful and provided us with a few areas that would be worthwile.

And so our adventure begins....


april 5th
We got a morning flight into Zadar, so we had a whole day of herping ahead of us. After procuring a car we got out on the road, meandering towards Starigrad, at the edge of Paklenica NP.
There are still minefields in this part of Croatia, so we had a map of minefield locations and kept an eye out for areas that might still be active.
Along the way me made some stops at dumping grounds. If the locals go there, there probably won't be landmines. That was our reasoning. The weather was a nice and sunny 18-20 degrees and it didn't take long to find our first herps. Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata) Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) and Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) which would all prove to be very common throughout the trip.
And then we reached the Novigrad lagoon, where we got our money's worth on this trip already. within 5 minutes of stopping, Rob pulled a Mediterranean Cat snake (Telescopus fallax) out from under just about the only suitable rock on the edge of the lagoon. and if that wasn't already a big enough prize, 50 meters ahead, there was a subadult Balkan whip snake (Hierophis gemonensis) crawling through the grass. We got some good looks and a few high fives were in order on this very first part of the trip. After we had to let the snakes go, we made our way to Paklenica. One stop before arriving also provided a Green lizard (Lacerta viridis), another at an inundated meadow was filled with the croaking Marsh frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus). Our last stop for the day was at the Paklenica little gorge. A starting point for great hiking into the park, high mountains on either side where Blue rock thrushes and Rock Nuthatches were doing their utmost to hook a female. On the ground, the Blue throated keeled lizard (Algyroides nigropunctatus) was doing the same. Their colors vibrant and intense, sure to interest any passing female. The quite small Dalmatian wall lizards (Podarcis melisellensis) were also in the mood, as their red bellies would show us.
As dinner time was approaching fast, we left the rest of the gorge and the park for another day, already feeling very satisfied with our first days score.


The typical habitat of the lowlands between Zadar and Paklenica,

Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) in a tree. Common in the lowlands.

Subadult Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata)

Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni)




In our other Balkan adventures we would find Scolopendra under a lot of rocks. Here these guys would be a common find. (Euscorpius spec.)

 Cat snake and balkan whip snake location.


 Mediterranean cat snake (Telescopus fallax)

  Mediterranean cat snake (Telescopus fallax)

 subadult Balkan whip snake (Hierophis gemonensis)


An impression of the little gorge at Paklenica. It would get steeper going up, with the occasional climbing going on.

More open habitat in Paklenica.



Plenty of rainfall in Paklenica, but the underground is very porous, swallowing all the water. So streams like this one are actually quite rare. As a consequence, amphibians are also rare in the park.

  Blue-throated keeled lizard (Algyroides nigropunctatus) in Paklenica little gorge

 Dalmatian wall lizard (Podarcis melisellensis) in Paklenica little gorge.


april 6th
Well fed and rested we entered the park to go for our next big target, the european rat snake. Another sunny day that would climb to 20 degrees once again. But now early in the morning, it would start at 14 degrees, but the sun would warm everything up quickly. We took a low trail through the park, along a southern slope. Here the ground would warm up the quickest, increasing our chances for good herping. After our first green lizards, we knew we had found the right place: A subadult Leopard snake (Zamenis situla) crossed our path. More high fives were in order. After the appropriate time to experience this little beauty, we let it go once again and continued on. Keeled lizards and our first Glass lizards (Ophisaurus apodus) completed the list at this location.
The park manager gave us a location where he recently saw some four-lined snakes. We would like to repeat that observation. 

We stopped at a nice monastery, close to the supposed four-lined snake location. We were welcomed by one of the monks who was practicing his scooter driving. No four-lined snakes unfortunately, but plenty of other herps to keep us occupied. Marsh frog, Agile frog (Rana dalmatina), Common toad (Bufo bufo), Keeled lizards, Green lizards, Balkan Green lizards, Glass lizards, Hermann's tortoise, a very shy Grass snake (Natrix natrix), another Leopard snake, an adult this time, and the first Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes) made this a very successful location.

 European rat snake habitat.

 In this warm weather butterflies were very abundant, like this Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)

 Subadult Leopard snake (Zamenis situla)

 Blue throated keeled lizard (Algyroides nigropunctatus)

European wall lizard (Ophisaurus apodus)

2nd location, Monastery. Around the monastery is small scale agriculture, small ponds and forest. A very varied landscape with space for a lot of species of herps.

The monastery.

Part of the river is averted to provide water for the agricultural fields.

A bright blue and clear river meanders through the valleys

The forest is absolutely alive with the Cyclama everywhere.

standing water is hard to find. These scarce swallowtails (Iphiclides podalirius) are sipping on the moisture of an almost dry puddle

Marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) on the edge of a pond

Agile frog (Rana dalmatina) on the edge of a field


Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata) on the slopes of the valley

A shy grass snake (Natrix natrix)

Beautiful adult size Leopard snake (Zamenis situla)

After being set free it tried camouflage, trying to play a stick.

april 7th
Up into paklenica this time, to an meadow at 900 meters up that supposedly harbours plenty of nose-horned vipers and dahl's whip snake. The trip up has beautiful scenery and that alone made it worthwhile.
But herping was very good as well. Plenty of Dalmatian wall lizards, Common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) Slow worm (Anguis fragilis) and we found 4 Nose-horned Vipers bathing in sun. Three of them were together on one wall, they probably have recently woken up from their hibernation but that gave us some time to see them very well.

On our way down we thought we saw a big branch lying in the middle of the road, but it turned out to be an adult Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus) doing yoga excercises, I think.

After some lunch and a few stops along the road, which produced some more Green lizards, Keeled lizards and Hermann's tortoise we decided to explore some more of the paklenica little gorge. 

There are plenty of hiking paths that go far into the park and if we had time we would have wanted to go up to the top, because there would be Ursinii's viper and Horvath wall lizard. But that would take two days which we did not have for this trip. Maybe next time.
But we did not have to go far to find the good stuff. We found more dalmatian wall lizards, keeled lizards, Glass lizards but the grand prize was a big Four-lined snake (Elaphe quatorlineata) lying near the path. Unfortunately it was quick and disappeared before we could take pictures. It is a rare snake in the park, so we were very lucky to even see it.
After we got some rocks thrown at us by some feral goats, we decided to call it a day again and try some more local food for dinner.
A very touristic area, here in Starigrad. Who can blame all of those people that come here every year?

Up along the road we encountred these structures. They are open air graves.Up until the early twentieth century the deceased were carried up the mountain and laid to rest on these open air platforms. The body was just a vessel and would decay and set the spirit free. The location was enough for the local people to remember their departed.

The karst rocks do not hold anything for the local flora, only the hardiest plants survive here

The valley in between the mountains, here seems to be some different substrate, as a forest stands on the slopes here. A little woodcutter village is occupied in the summer here.

subadult Green lizard (Lacerta viridis)

Dalmatian wall lizard (Podarcis melisellensis)

Another Dalmatian wall lizard (Podarcis melisellensis)

Common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Slow worm (Anguis fragilis)

subadult Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)

adult nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)

An Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus) doing some yoga exercises. 

 Adult glass lizard (Ophisaurus apodus) catching the last sun of the day.
subadult glass lizard (Ophisaurus apodus)

April 8th
Our last day, the temperature was still between 16 and 18 degrees, but it was mostly overcast with scattered showers. Not ideal for herping, so we decided to do a road trip and do some sightseeing and maybe also see some herps.
We decided to try our luck again at the monastery. There was a lot less activity. Bird activity was a bit higher than other days and now the usually elusive sombre tit (Poecile lugubris) was singing quite clearly. Amphibian activity was still high, Marsh frog and Agile frog were all around and we did find a subadult Grass snake in one of the ponds and to keep the herp list fresh, a European pond terrapin (Emys orbicularis) could be seen moving on the bottom of one of the ponds. 

From there we drove through the hinterlands of croatia. This was an unending sight of impenetrable low thorny bushes on mostly bare rock with some scattered agriculture where possible. We ended up around Vransko Jezero, an important winter reserve for waterbirds. Now in spring it was almost empty, awaiting the summer tourists. around the lake the weather still wasn't good. We found low numbers of Green lizards, Hermann's tortoise, Dalmatian wall lizard and our first Italian wall lizards (Podarcis siculus). And also unfortunately a Roadkill subadult Leopard Snake.

Very satisfied with everything we found, we decided to end the day here. it couldn't get any better than this. We sniffed some of the history in Zadar and said goodbye with a good meal and a rough thunderstorm.
These guys would be flying around our face the whole time. Egyptian grasshopper (Anacridium aegyptium)

 European pond terrapin (Emys orbicularis)

Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus)

two impressively big Giant peacock moths (Saturnia pyri)

The only picture we managed of a four-lined snake.

Zadar, like the whole of Croatia has switched rulers dozens of times. Here you see the remaining columns of a roman forum, an early christian church, the Church of St. Donatus (9th century) and in the back the tower of the Cathedral of St. Anastasia (5th century, the tower was built later). This place has seen Roman, Venetian, Italian, French and Yugoslavian rule. All with their own cultural influences.



Herp list

1:  Common toad
2:  Eurasian marsh frog
3:  Agile frog
4:  European pond terrapin
5:  Hermann's tortoise
6:  Blue-throated keeled lizard
7:  Balkan green lizard
8:  Eastern Green lizard
9:  Dalmatian wall lizard
10:Common wall lizard
11:Italian wall lizard
12:Slow worm
13:European glass lizard
14:Four-lined rat snake
15:Balkan whip snake
16:European grass snake
17:Mediterranean cat snake
18:Aesculapian snake
19:Leopard snake
20:Nose-horned Viper