Herpetological trip to Corsica (France)
August 17th-31th 2019
Unless specified otherwise, all pictures (c) of Jeroen Speybroeck.
As my most avid readership might remember, my 2018 Corsica trip report ended with a declaration to return soon. Not too long after, I decided to choose this lovely island as the destination for a 2019 camping trip with my children Bas (7) and Lili (3). Herping buddy Jan and his wife Lea and their daughter Kato (also 7) joined us. We didn’t cover as much ground and the trip included more swimming and ice cream than my solo run the year before, but I am blessed with kids who can be easily persuaded to do mountain hikes and look for animals.
sites of observation (mainland chapters not shown)
August 17th
I broke up the drive back and forth to keep things digestible for the kids, so on day 1 we drove south from Belgium to a resort-like place just north of Valence. Nothing more than Common Wall Lizard
Podarcis muralis next to the swimming pool.
August 18th
Our ferry from Toulon to Ile-Rousse wasn’t until early the next morning, so we had a whole day to reach our budget hotel in Toulon in the evening. Again tried to find Edwards’s Psammodromus
Psammodromus edwarsianus in Massif des Maures, but temperature shot quickly well above 30°C and it was game over.
no Psammodromus
A cooler and more child-friendly activity came to mind, as I remembered a spot Wouter B. told me about with a bunker and a man-made tunnel in the PN Mercantour. It had been years since Wouter found this place, so we were lucky to find it was still accessible and productive, holding numerous Strinati’s Cave Salamanders
Speleomantes strinatii. Of course, this called for ice cream celebration.
Strinati’s Cave Salamander Speleomantes strinatii
After an unsuccessful European Pond Terrapin
Emys orbicularis stop we made our way back to our Toulon hotel.
August 19th
Waking up before sunrise to catch the ferry - the least agreeable, overcrowded part of the journey. Much to our surprise, not a lot to be seen in terms of seabirds let alone mammals, yet two Loggerhead Sea Turtles
Caretta caretta.
We got off the boat in the afternoon. Jan & co took the seaside route to drive to our campground in Porto-Ota, while I decided to do the extra half hour to go through the mountains, passing the Col de Vergio. Exploring a first brook before the col, Bas found our first Corsican Painted Frog
Discoglossus montalentii. Of course, we also found the first Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard
Podarcis tiliguerta here.
Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii
The end of the day was spent with setting up camp and pizza.
August 20th
We decided to spend some time in and near the Porto river. This was so agreeable that we ended up spending practically the entire day on the river banks. The spot provided good looking Corsican Painted Frogs last year, but for now we only flipped a few Tyrrhenian Painted Frogs
Discoglossus sardus. Larvae of Corsican Brook Newt
Euproctus montanus in the water. Barbecue in the evening concluded a calm but lovely day.
Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus
August 21st
Now it was time to really start with one of my favourite activities – amphibian searching in and along Corsican brooks. While last year it was fairly easy to turn up adult Corsican Brook Newt, it seemed they had already left the water. On the other hand, the presence of fish struck me more than before (although I may not have been paying enough attention before). So, we settled for newt larvae and tadpoles and metamorphs of Corsican Painted Frog. Also no Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard
Archaeolacerta bedriagae at the Col de Vergio this time, so I resorted to photographing some wall lizards instead.
Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard Podarcis tiliguerta - male
Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard Podarcis tiliguerta - female
August 22nd
We hiked towards Lac Nino. I wanted to test how far the mountain legs of the kids would go. Unfortunately, we never made it to the lake, as cold rain, hailstones and lightning fell down on us during the last, more challenging part of the ascent. Nevertheless, I was very proud of the stamina of the children. On our way up, we could see Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard in high abundance.
lizard admirer
Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard Archaeolacerta bedriagae
Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard Archaeolacerta bedriagae
Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard Archaeolacerta bedriagae
Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard Archaeolacerta bedriagae
The upside of the rain was finding our first Corsican Fire Salamander
Salamandra corsica on our way back down.
Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica
August 23rd
The weather forecast seemed not too promising for seeing European Leaf-toed Gecko
Euleptes europaea, one of my absolute Tyrrhenian favourites, in the Porto area, so I decided to book a night in a hotel near Bonifacio. Before making it that far south in the evening, rain in the inner parts of the island was our cue for getting some more fire salamander observations. This worked like a charm – afternoon thunderstorms seem to lure out diurnal salamanders easily in summer, just like last year. Great to be back in these beautiful beech woods.
Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica
Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica
Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica
The southern after-dark target site delivered again, with numerous leaf-toed geckos, as well as one Moorish
Tarentola mauritanica and a few Turkish Gecko
Hemidactylus turcicus, and two very enthusiastic young gecko lovers.
Moorish Gecko Tarentola mauritanica
European Leaf-Toed Gecko Euleptes europaea
The water-holding building in these great ruins this time did not have adult tree frogs, but numerous metamorphs of Tyrrhenian Tree Frog
Hyla sarda and Tyrrhenian Painted Frog, together with a juvenile Barred Grass Snake
Natrix helvetica. I was particularly pleased with the latter, as I had spend a lot of fruitless time and effort to find this one the year before. A short attempt for Green Toad
Bufotes viridis at a site where I had seen some in spring 2009 didn’t deliver, and then it was bedtime for the kids.
Tyrrhenian Tree Frog Hyla sarda
Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus
Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica
August 24th
To add two lizard species to our sightings, we went back to the gecko site early in the morning and quickly found basking Italian Wall Lizard
Podarcis siculus and Pygmy Algyroides
Algyroides fitzingeri.
Pygmy Algyroides Algyroides fitzingeri
Still lacking an adult brook newt, we stopped at Bavella on the way back to our Porto campground. Just the one, but surely the best looking one I ever saw. Late afternoon, we were back in Porto.
Corsican Brook Newt Euproctus montanus
August 25th
In the morning, it was time to revisit a healthy population of European Pond Terrapin. High wall lizard abundance and several terrapins, as well as one Western Whip Snake
Hierophis viridiflavus. Lunch in town delivered an additional Italian Wall Lizard.
European Pond Terrapin Emys orbicularis
European Pond Terrapin Emys orbicularis - not so shy, shot with 100mm
The afternoon was spent with amphibian searches near Ota, which delivered larval brook newt and a few Tyrrhenian Painted Frogs.
Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard Podarcis tiliguerta
Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus
After dark, a single juvenile leaf-toed gecko, some Tyrrhenian Painted Frog and Bas was particularly pleased with his first ever Green Toads.
Green Toad Bufotes viridis
Green Toad Bufotes viridis
Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus
August 26th
Before we started the hike of the day, I checked a few more brooks.
morning glory
cute disaster
At one of them, I caught a very chunky Corsican Painted Frog.
Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii
Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii
Then, my 3 year old made me very proud again with her hiking enthusiasm. Many, many more lizards along our way to a photo-friendly waterfall.
Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard Podarcis tiliguerta
Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard Archaeolacerta bedriagae
August 27th
Up early to find a single Hermann’s Tortoise in the central valley.
Hermann’s Tortoise Testudo hermanni
Some more brook searching along the way. Time to relax a bit more, with lazy afternoon at the campground swimming pool. After dark, a short exploration of the Porto river after dark, with a juvenile brook newt and both species of painted frogs.
Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus
Corsican Brook Newt Euproctus montanus - juvenile
August 28th
Our last full day on the island. Bas and I went for a final fire salamander run, finding 80 animals in a 40 minutes search. Great!
Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica
Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica
Father and son also explored the Porto river after dark one more time, again with both painted frog species in decent numbers.
Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii
Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus
Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii
Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus
Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii
Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii
August 29th
Our ferry back to the mainland ran in the afternoon. I decided to go back the way I came, preferring the mountain route over the seaside once more. A tiny brook with a diurnal metamorph fire salamander, newt larvae, tadpoles and metamorphs of Corsican Painted Frog and a nice Barred Grass Snake made a lovely final stop.
Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica
Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica
Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica
After some midnight confusion finally got into our hotel room in the same Toulon hotel.
August 30th-31st
After a final night at a child-friendly stop halfway into France, we made it back home.
Epilogue
Corsica never bores. Each visit is different. This time, amphibian reproductive activities seemed to be further along than last year, judging by the presence of more brook newt larvae, tree frog metamorphs and the virtual absence of aquatic adult brook newts.
Species list
MAINLAND & SEA
1. Strinati’s Cave Salamander
Speleomantes strinatii
2. Common Toad
Bufo bufo
3. Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Caretta caretta
4. Western Green Lizard
Lacerta bilineata
5. Common Wall Lizard
Podarcis muralis brongniardii
CORSICA
1. Corsican Fire Salamander
Salamandra corsica
2. Corsican Brook Newt
Euproctus montanus
3. Corsican Painted Frog
Discoglossus montalentii
4. Tyrrhenian Painted Frog
Discoglossus sardus
5. Green Toad
Bufotes viridis balearicus
6. Tyrrhenian Tree Frog
Hyla sarda
7. Pool Frog
Pelophylax lessonae bergeri
8. Hermann’s Tortoise
Testudo hermanni hermanni
9. European Pond Terrapin
Emys orbicularis galloitalica
10. European Leaf-toed Gecko
Euleptes europaea
11. Turkish Gecko
Hemidactylus turcicus
12. Moorish Gecko
Tarentola mauritanica
13. Pygmy Algyroides
Algyroides fitzingeri
14. Italian Wall Lizard
Podarcis siculus siculus &
campestris
15. Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard
Archaeolacerta bedriagae
16. Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard
Podarcis tiliguerta
17. Barred Grass Snake
Natrix helvetica cetti
18. Western Whip Snake
Hierophis viridiflavus
