Herpetological trip to Corsica and Sardinia (France & Italy)
June 28th – July 10th 2020

List of observed species

Unless specified otherwise, all pictures (c) of Jeroen Speybroeck.

With COVID-19 ruling out spring trips to Algeria and Turkey, and a summer trip to Georgia (the country flanked by the Black Sea and the Caucasus, that is), I was delighted that the European borders opened up again for summer, so travelling and herping in Europe was made possible again. While summer is tough, a combination of caves and brooks seemed to make sense. Thus, Sardinia was on the table. It had been since 2011 since I visited the island, and I was keen on exploring a multitude of caves. Loïc was on board again and had never been to the Tyrrhenian islands, so we would definitely try to find all endemic Sardinian and Tyrrhenian species, including the (especially on Sardinia) elusive Grass Snake subspecies Natrix helvetica cetti. Thanks to our Sardinian success, a shorter Corsican episode was also included. Corsica was third year in a row for me, but always a joy. Special attention went to Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica, a species high on Loïc’s wishlist.

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Thanks to Alessandro Spiga and FORESTAS personnel for facilitating our observation of Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis, and Alessandro for showing us a small but sweet cave for Gené's Cave Salamander Speleomantes genei.

June 28th

Our Brussels-Rome-Olbia flight arrangement was cancelled in favour of one starting from Amsterdam and including a sleepover in Rome.

air travel covid style

June 29th

An early flight dropped us at Olbia airport, close to the native range of the northernmost Sardinian Speleomantes species – Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus. We revisited a cave I had entered in 2011. Not too many animals present, but luckily still there, reassuring us that at least some caves would not be too warm or dry in summer.

Monte Albo

Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus

Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus

Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus

compare with 2011 picture ;)

Loïc with Western Whip Snake Hierophis viridiflavus

After our descent, a traditional stop for tree frogs.

Hyla home, even in summer

Tyrrhenian Tree Frog Hyla sarda

Tyrrhenian Tree Frog Hyla sarda

Tyrrhenian Tree Frog Hyla sarda

Tyrrhenian Tree Frog Hyla sarda

We continued south, exploring four caves for Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis and finding the species in all four of them.

Loïc and Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Loïc and Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis

Trying to find caves after dark can be tough, especially when all the village’s dogs start barking, to indicate your fence-jumping. A trout-infested newt brook did not make us much merrier, so we had to settle for some ugly specimens of two beautiful species.

ugly (but huge) Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus

ugly Green Toad Bufotes viridis

We drove until next to an Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis cave and put up our tents.

June 30th

This day was mainly dedicated to visiting five Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis caves. All but one delivered.

Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis

Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis

Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis

Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis

Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis

To escape from the heat a little bit, we checked in to a nice B&B on the outskirts of the Sette Fratelli park. The park being closed due to the coronavirus and daytime being brutally hot, we mainly explored after dark, doing night hikes towards and in and along brooks. On our first night, we found many tree frogs and Viperine Snakes Natrix maura.

Viperine Snake Natrix maura coming up for air in between tadpole hunts

July 1st

We started the day with another brook, trying a daytime search for Euproctus and cetti for a change. No luck (although the usual suspects were abundant).

facing the horror of being forced to swim to continue searching :)

With a very special salamander outing scheduled for the next day, we were going to spend the next night near Sette Fratelli too. It was, however, too hot to do anything else than drive back and forth to the west to do a first attempt for Gené’s Cave Salamander Speleomantes genei. Along with some very hard to find and unproductive holes-in-the-ground, we found a gallery holding a single female of the (disputed) ‘subspecies B’.

an easy gallery

a more challenging pothole

Gené’s Cave Salamander Speleomantes genei - ‘subspecies B’

After dark, another hike across a forest floor completely destroyed by wild boar brought us to a lovely brook. No grass snake again, but the amphibians made up for that.

Sardinian Brook Newt Euproctus platycephalus

Tyrrhenian Tree Frog Hyla sarda

July 2nd

The granitic geology of the Sette Fratelli does not feature too many natural cavities. Man-made water chambers may, however, host large numbers of the Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis. With crucial help of Sardinian native and nature photographer Alessandro Spiga and his contacts with the FORESTAS forestry guards, we gained access to two of these chambers, and were allowed to admire this beautiful species.

Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis

Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis

Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis

July 3rd

We met again with Alessandro, for some more Gené’s Cave Salamander Speleomantes genei.

numerous caves and mine galleries holding high numbers of the species have been locked over the past decades

Gené’s Cave Salamander Speleomantes genei

Gené’s Cave Salamander Speleomantes genei

After saying goodbye and a big thanks to Alessandro, we started to move back north, and continued towards a very special cave in the centre of the island.

steep and very beautiful hike

very high abundance of Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis

Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis

Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis - © Loïc van Doorn

Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis

We went on to enjoy a Monte Albo sunset, after which we slept on top of Monte Limbara.

Monte Albo sunset

July 4th

First, a Limbara newt brook.

Sardinian Brook Newt Euproctus platycephalus

Sardinian Brook Newt Euproctus platycephalus

happy where I’m at

By the time we hit a nearby tortoise site, it was already quite warm, although we did find one (albeit disfigured – amazing what these animals can survive…).

habitat of Marginated Tortoise Testudo marginata

Saving just a few Sardinian extras for later, we took the ferry to Corsica.

Choppy sea and a bottlenose dolphin later, we finally got a real escape from the heat in the Ospédale forest.

failing to catch Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii :D

No afternoon thunderstorms like in late August 2018 and 2019, but nothing was going to stop Loïc from finding a gorgeous Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica.

Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica

Corsican Fire Salamander Salamandra corsica

July 5th

Two brook(-side) essentials were found in the morning.

Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard Archaeolacerta bedriagae

Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii

Then, a lowland site for grass snakes, but only got water frogs and European Pond Terrapin Emys orbicularis. Again…

another place with no grass snake for us…

Better go for some newts, then. While these can be terrestrial thus tough to come by, by late summer, they are found quite readily earlier in the season.

Corsican Brook Newt Euproctus montanus - female

Corsican Brook Newt Euproctus montanus - beat-up male

all Tyrrhenian endemic species found!

We didn’t get a good look at the gecko endemic so far, so that was sorted out after dark.

not only on natural rocks

European Leaf-toed Gecko Euleptes europaea

Again no grass snake, but some nice frogs during yet another nocturnal brook search.

Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii

Corsican Painted Frog Discoglossus montalentii

July 6th

We wanted and got some more Tyrrhenian lizards.

Tyrrhenian Rock Lizard Archaeolacerta bedriagae

Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard Podarcis tiliguerta

The rest of the day was spent fixing two car tyres that died on us at once. All got sorted out nicely, so we could continue our adventures without worry.

time to take a break

July 7th

A beautiful southern oak forest delivered the anticipated tortoises.

searching...

… and finding

Hermann’s Tortoise Testudo hermanni

Off to the ferry harbour, but no crossings today due to winds. Worse things in life than spending an additional day on Corsica.

First, back up to l’Ospédale for some more (fruitless) grass snake searching.

wonderful grass snake habitat

the wrong snake

Western Whip Snake Hierophis viridiflavus

Yet another good site in the evening, yielding zero grass snakes.

July 8th

Winds had dropped, so we could cross over back to Sardinia now.

bye, bye, Bonifacio

I was still cave-hungry, so we headed south again. First, a tortoise on the road.

Marginated Tortoise Testudo marginata

We tried four additional caves for Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis, with increasingly positive results. First, a cave we couldn’t find. Second, one where we could only see salamanders in the abyss (with no way of descending safely and surely no way to get back out without a rope). Third, a mine shaft with two ugly ones. Finally, a larger one with beard-like hanging roots and plenty of salamanders.

The only decent hole for the isolated supramontis from Monte Tuttavista was too deep without a rope, so we will have to come better prepared next time…

maybe supramontis in the deep…

After dark, why not try again for grass snake? Would be weird to fail on Corsica, but succeed on Sardinia… And yet, that’s what happened. A steep night hike to a small Sopramonte water source, and finally we found one!

me with the price - what was lacking in blood and tears, was obviously and amply made up for in sweat - © Loïc van Doorn

as found among its painted frog tadpole prey – Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica cetti

Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica cetti

Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica cetti

Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica cetti

Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica cetti

Green Toad Bufotes viridis

European Leaf-toed Gecko Euleptes europaea

July 9th

After failing to find it before, I wanted to hike to the terra typica cave of Monte Albo Cave Salamander as a final cave adventure, and also revisit the nameless nearby cave I ended up in, back in 2009.

at the start of our Monte Albo hike, Sopramonte in the background

top of Monte Albo, with view at Sopramonte

nearly a moonscape

view over the town of Lula

this tree is crucial to get in and out of ‘my’ nameless 2009 cave

Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus

Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus

The hike went easier than expected, so we had time for a late afternoon visit to a dune area where we could add two species to the list, and one to Loïc’s lifelist. No Spur-thighed Tortoise Testudo graeca, but did find Ocellated Skink Chalcides ocellatus.

July 10th

Early flight back home, so game over. It’s been a great adventure, with 31 cave visits, of which 19 were successful.

Herpetological trip to Corsica and Sardinia (France & Italy) June 28th – July 10th 2020