Iberian peninsula - September / October 2017
How frustrated have I been last year to say "I'm not going anywhere until I do not see Vipera latastei"? Well, that's not completely true as the main objective of this trip was, mainly, to see the Brown bear in the wild.
My girlfriend and I planned this trip a few months before, enough to have all the informations not to face the failure ! Here is the report of these 25 days across the Iberian peninsula:
Step 1 : Burgos area (14th to 15th of September)
To evacuate my frustration, that I carry since my 2016 unsuccessfully trip in Catalonia, we started our adventure by looking for the Lataste's viper (Vipera latastei) in a well-known area where it is pretty abundant.
Looking for reptiles in september looks like a good idea as the season is supposed to be good. But we arrived there with a cloudy, almost rainy weather and a pretty cold and windy 15°c. What is good is that these temperatures does not move that much during the night.
Useless to say that we did not see any snake during the first day, I mean, any alive snake as we found a freshly killed Southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica) as well as a... Lataste's viper (Vipera latastei), both on the road.
No luck during the day, we've been to another place to spend the night, where we discovered an awesome waterfall area. We tried to find some amphibians around but didn't manage to find any, excepted for a Spiny toad (Bufo (bufo) spinosus). A few meters away from it, I spotted a huge Slow worm (Anguis fragilis), sleeping under a stump.
The second day there had to be the good one ! We woke up early as I wanted to look under every single rock to see the viper. Unfortunately, the bad weather was still around, but left after a few hours. Then, rain and sun followed each other alternately, which is not that bad, but not necessarily good too.
I started looking under the rocks and was surprised not to see a single reptile, excepted for a young Moorish gecko (Tarentola mauritanica). It took me one hour and a half to see a snake, which was a young Southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica) that strangely flee away too fast for me !
We moved to another place, close to the first one, close to the dead viper we found the day before, and I started looking for reptiles as the sun was slowly being more present than the rain. A few Catalonian wall lizard (Podarcis liolepis) started to show up, enough to give me a lot of hope for the rest of the day. Then, the first Western green lizard (Lacerta bilineata) and a very nice looking Ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) finished to convince me that I will not be coming back without a viper sighting ! What happened after 2 long hours !!!
Proud of this success, we decided to go back to the waterfall where we've been the night before, to see what it looks like during the day, and do some pictures.
Step 2: Picos de Europa (15th to 16th of September)
As the evening was slowly coming, we started to drive to some new places where we had strong chances to see some amphibians. Within the Picos de Europa National Park, the salamanders are completely different from what we are accustomed to. Chance was on our side, as the rain seemed to be very strong where we were heading. A little bit too strong in fact as we arrived to the place under a very, very huge rain storm.
We stayed in the car for one hour and a half, the time for this storm to become a normal rain, and even disappear for a while. Needless to say that these were the perfect conditions to see what we came for: amphibians !
We first found a black Spiny toad (Bufo (bufo) spinosus), which is pretty impressive as I had never seen such a dark toad before ! Then, the stunning Fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra bernardezi) started to show up. We ended up the night by seeing two Gold-striped salamander (Chioglossa lusitanica) we didn't expect anymore. What a night !
Due to heavy rain, we choose to sleep in a hostel. So that we can rest and head to Somiedo in the morning.
What a surprise in the morning to see a very sunny sky. For those who know me, you'll not be surprise if I tell you that my first idea was to look for reptiles. So we took the car and drove on the way to Somiedo. We stopped on some nice viewpoints and I did not miss the opportunity to look for some reptiles.
I had some troubles seeing the lizards as they mostly hide in spiny vegetation, and just run away when you see it. But anyway, I did success to see a few Schreiber's green lizards (Lacerta schreiberi) and two West iberian rock lizards (Iberolacerta monticola), that I've not been able to photograph. The sky was not as sunny as it was in the early morning, and reptiles were not very active so I when managed to see an Iberian grass snake (Natrix (natrix) aestreptophora), it was not really active and gave me the opportunity to photograph whitout catching it.
Step 3: Asturias (16th to 21st of September)
Here was the real first objective we had on this trip: the Brown bear ! Somiedo Natural Park is known to be one of the best place in Europe to see it as I was pretty confident as one of my friend did see many there, just a few weeks ago.
We arrived in the evening so we immediately went to the famous spot where my friend saw them. There, the bears come to eat the hazelnuts and the buckthorns. This year's heat wave bruned out all the buckthorns so bears only had nuts to eat, that's why they've been seen in very high numbers at the same places, where hazelnuts where abundants.
Of course, when there are so many bears on the same place, hazelnuts don't last that much and it looks like we arrived a few days after the last nut. I mean, bears had been seen just 3 days before...
Day after day, we came here in the morning and the evening hoping for a bear to look for some hazelnuts but this never happened.
Wild boars (Sus scrofa), Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and some Red deers (Cervus elaphus) kept our attention on but hope slowly faded. After a few days there, we were thinking of giving up. No bears but some awesome sightings such as a magnificient Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) looking for food on a rest area. The scenery was, also, really pleasant and the rain and the clouds gave a mysterious ambience to it.
These few days gave us the chance to meet so awesome people whith whom we shared all the frustrating moments, but also a few good ones. Julie, Baptiste and Morgan were our companions in misfortune.
As they were interested in reptiles, I proposed them to look for snakes with me at a place I had spotted, and that looks great for vipers. As the only reptile we managed to see in Somiedo together was the Common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis).
After a few minutes of "nothing, nothing and nothing", we came back to the cars to have lunch. In a last heroic motivation momentum, I went to some rocks and flipped it.... to discover, not a viper, but a really nice looking Smooth snake (Coronella austriaca acutirostris).
That snake was the hope sign I needed and it didn't take long until I finally found it... the Seoane's viper (Vipera seoanei). Found 4 at this place.
In the morning, we met two english persons who told us where they've been to look for bears, but didn't see it because of the fog. I've heard that some days, you can see up to 6 bears around there but didn't manage to get the location, until then ! So we drove with our hearts full of hope, to this new place.
When we finally arrived, we noticed the river and decided to go down to have a look. There, you enter a new world, a quiet one where the only sounds you hear is the river flow and the birds such as the White-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus) hunting in the river and the Short-toed treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla) singing on the trees. While walking along the river, we found an unexpected Iberian stream frog (Rana iberica).
That place was kind of a wildlife paradise as we spotted an awesome and very clear pond, where two Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) were playing and fishing without paying attention on us.
Time has come for us, to know if bears will be around or not. Time to know how our quest will begin, failure or success?
The sun was going down, and we started to go to the lookout point when I suddenly spotted something big crossing a scree... I took my binocular as fast as I could and just had the time to see it and scream "THAT'S A FUCKING BEAR !!!". But it vanished as fast as it appeared.
Fortunately, we had some very good spotters with us and Morgan quickly found another one. We finally found more than 7 Brown bears (Ursus arctos) that night. The two following days, we had the opportunity to see more and we think we did see 12 different bears at this place.
I remember the last morning, when I just woke up and open the car's door (yes, we were sleeping in the car) and saw a big animal crossing the scree right in front of me, just 150 meters away. I put the telescope on it and told my girlfriend to look in it when she just claimed "Oh there are two... no, three ! Four !!!". Yes, female and three cubs made the show. And when they disappeared, we just looked behind us on another scree where we spotted two young males playing. What a morning !
Step 4: Sierra de la Culebra (21st to 25th of September)
Second big objective of the trip, to see the Grey wolf !
The road to the Sierra de la Culebra is not very long from our bear place, so we had some time to stop to a special place where a unique lizard is supposed to live.
This place is located in the Lago de Sanabria Natural park. That's a lake circled by rocks and moor.
I've been really surprised, when I walked along the lake, to see many snakes on the path. Mostly Viperine snakes (Natrix maura) but I also spotted an Iberian grass snake (Natrix aestreptophora). A few minutes after, I noticed a small snake along the path, with a huge belly (as it just ate something). That was a young Seoane's viper (Vipera seoanei cantabrica) with a pretty nice dark colouration.
It took me some time before I finally see the lizard I've been looking for, the unique Galan's rock lizard (Iberolacerta galani). Found a few adults and a young one. Went back to the car walking along the lake, which was full of Iberian green frog (Pelophylax perezi).
We did it on a rush, and did it pretty well. Now I regret we did not take more time there to look at this special place. Moor is a very interesting habitat !
Anyway, we reached Sierra de la Culebra pretty fast. There started our second quest.
Looking for wolves is a matter of patience. Be there everyday from dawn to the point it's too hot to look, and come back from 3 hours before sunset to the dark hours, when, obviously, we can't see anymore.
As the first days weren't really successful, we went to a place close to us, called Lagunas de Villafáfila where we spotted some Great bustard (Otis tarda) and a few more birds, includind a very close sighting of a flying Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Obviously, we did see some reptiles and amphibians such as the elusive Guadarrama wall lizard (Podarcis guadarramae), the Ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) and the Iberian green frog (Pelophylax perezi). I've heard some Iberian tree frog (Hyla molleri) but did not manage to see one.
Day after day, we came here, and even missed the Wolf one time for a few seconds ! Then, we never lost hope but to be honnest, we weren't very optimistics when we finally saw the light. Just arrived on the place and taking the telescope out of the car, someone just says "Wolves !". 5 Grey wolves (Canis lupus) were walking along a path very far from us. I tried to film one but if I don't tell you that it's a Wolf, you might not notice by yourself. We saw a few more along the evening, but every time was a fast sight.
The day after, we saw it closer running after two female deers. But I've prefered looking at it to see it well than taking pictures or film.
Well, this is another success !!!
Step 5: Peña de Francia and Sierra de Gredos (25th to 26th of September)
Right after this awesome new encounter with the mythic predator, reptiles took back the control of my mind and I've been engaged in a new challenge, find two endemic rock lizards. So, we headed South to a new adventure.
On our way, we had the opportunity to see some common birds, you don't see that often in France, such as the Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) or the Southern grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis). We also found a pond where the Spannish terrapins (Mauremys leprosa) were abundant, but shy.
Our first stop was a monastery named "Santuario De La Virgen De La Peña Francia" where we could find our first endemic rock lizard.
First surprise, it looks like it is pretty hard to find such a lizard ! But, by the way, never lose hope and look for it as long as you can ! And when I finally found a lizard... second surprise: Yes, you can find Ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) above 1700 meters high. What was more expected was to see some Iberian wild goat (Capra pyrenaica), and we did see a few.
After more than two hours looking for an invisible lizard, I gave up. On my way back to the car, I decided to look under the last rock... Believe it or not, but there it was. OK, that was not an adult but this little guy still is a Peña de Francia rock lizard (Iberolacerta martinezricai).
First of my two objectives around there, now I had to look for the second. So we headed East to the Sierra de Gredos where it is supposed to live.
There we arrived late in the night so we slept close to the area I will be looking for the lizard, with a stunning night sky.
The day after, we woke up early but the sun took some time to finally light the mountain side we were on and I didn't not start to look before the sunlight had been warm enough for reptiles. I've been looking for lizard during 1 long hour with absolutely no sign of it when I received a phone call from my girlfriend who stayed next to the car... and told me she was circled by lizards.
A few minutes after, I just found out that she was all right. Staying on a rock to enjoy the warm sunlight was the best way to see the Cyren's rock lizard (Iberolacerta cyreni). At least for the young ones. After that, we finally found adults and a juvenile of Iberian emerald lizard (Lacerta schreiberi).
And this is how we endded our Northern part of Spain venue. Our next step was in another country, with a little stop in Sevilla for the night. Because sleeping is not optionnal, even when you're on such a superb trip !
Step 6: Algarve (27th to 29th of September)
This is the part my girlfriend Hélène was waiting above all. We left Sevilla in a hurry when we realized that we could reach Portugal early enough to climb on a dolphin tour from Lagos ! We first thought to be very short on the timing, and then found out that Portugal is living one hour earlier than us. So we finallt arrived with one hour to wait.
During these few days there, we went on 3 boat tours to see dolphins, that we did see as expected. The most common species here is... the Short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and we did see many ! But we had the chance to enjoy a pretty close encounter with the very shy and elusive Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). The day we arrived, we missed the Bottlenose dolphins for one hour, the day after, we missed the Minke whale for one hour as well, and what killed us is that Orcas have been spotted the day after we left. But anyway we've been lucky enough to be happy !
Going out on the see is awesome to spot some marine birds such as the Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), European storm-petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus), Northern gannet (Morus bassanus), the Great skua (Stercorarius skua) and many more.
A good thing to do down there is to enjoy sunset at the Cape St. Vincent lighthouse from where you can also see many dolphins from the land. Be prepared, many pictures right here:
After so many dolphins, believe me it's pretty hard to set up your mind back on the "reptile" mode !
But I obviously had to move forward to make this trip as complete as I can and I had the hope to see a camaeleon in the night so we took the road again to come closer to the Spain border, but still on the portugese side. While driving in the night, we met, for a few seconds only, the rarely seen Genet (Genetta genetta).
As I hoped, we found a unique Common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon). But as I didn't look for another one after that, I supposed there were more to find !
We spent our last day in Algarve visiting a park where I found, with a bit of luck, a Bedriaga's skink (Chalcides bedriagai) and a huuuuuuuuge Montpellier's snake (Malpolon monspessulanus). There were our first close encounters with the common but almost impossible to photograph Iberian azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cooki). I also found two Horseshoe whip snake sheds, but none alive.
Step 7: Sierra de la Morena (29th of September to 6th of October)
Here come the very last quest. Maybe the holy Grail of this trip as it is a very shy and difficult to see target ! We went there to look for the Iberian lynx.
The Iberian lynx is easier to see during the mating season that occurs from January to March and I've always heard that looking for it in October won't be a good idea, but can still be possible. As long as the hope lives I can't lay down. We came to the Andujar area, well know by Lynx lovers and did not expect such a life profusion. At least for the big mammals.
We mostly spent our time on two areas which are a roadside with a great view on a valley and a riverside full of life. There were the two places spotters used to be early in the morning and in the late afternoon, hoping to see the predator. As we were in the middle of the deer's slab, you can't imagine what kind of acoustic ambiance we had every night. Many Red deers (Cervus elaphus), sometimes up to 12 at the same time, could be heard. Moreover, we had the chance to hear an Eagle owl (Bubo bubo) almost every evening and sometimes, the sound of a fishing Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra).
While coming back to the accomodation, we often saw snakes freshly killed on the road and I decided to go for a night drive to see if I can find one alive. Even in October, you can easily find a Ladder snake (Rhinechis scalaris) in the middle of the road. We found two this night. Night is also the best moment for good surprises and we had a very good one on our very first there as we found a very friendly Red-necked nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis) in the middle of the road who gave us the time to take a picture of it before it flew away.
Let's talk about the two places we spent most of our time. In the morning, we used to take a seat on a roadside, from where we had a large view on the valley. We hoped to see the magpies harrassing the Lynx as carrefully watching magpies behaviour is supposed to be one of the keys to find it.
It is along the road that led us to this point that we've made some of our best deer sightings (and pictures by the way). There, Red deers were not alone and we saw a few Fallow deers (Dama dama) and even some Argalis (Ovis ammon). Obviously, Wild boars (Sus scrofa) were also around but I've been surprised not to see more than two Roe deers (Capreolus capreolus) during all these days. As expected, because it's the main prey of the Lynx, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is also common. I can also mention the Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) that we've seen once on the other spot.
The second spot is fresher, and that's for the best as days were very hot not to say unbearable !
It is located close to a bridge where deers often cross the river, so you've guessed that's the riverside spot I've been talked about earlier in the post.
Here, the Iberian azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cooki) are abundant but still hard to photograph. The only moment I have had a great photographic opportunity was when I did not have my camera with me and Magpies just came right next to me to harrass a Horseshoe whip snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis)... Two animals I really wanted to photograph... true story !
From this place, we also had the chance to see two Spanish imperial eagles (Aquila adalberti).
In the river, crayfishes are numerous and you sometimes can see a Viperine snake (Natrix maura) or a Spanish terrapin (Mauremys leprosa). The abundance of crayfish makes it be the main food ressource for all the predators such as the Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) and the Common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis). But the most amazing is that it looks like crayfishes are 100% of the otter's food.
Speaking of otter, we met a french couple, Anouk and Philippe, at this place. They slept here for a few days. On their first night here, we shared a diner together and I just started the cheese when I hear the powerful sound of an otter ! Anouk told me she really wanted to see one so we went quickly to the river bank. I saw the otter and told them to follow. Then I arrived on a rock half in the water and realized that I did not see the otter anymore. Hang on because what will follow just looks unbelievable. The otter was swimming underwater to the rock I was standing on so I saw it coming underwater, that was wonderful. What I did not expect, is the otter not to notice me and climb on the rock, putting its feet on mine ! I've been so surprised that the only thing I've been able to do is to call my girlfriend, what scared the otter away.
I came back to my cheese to tell this to Anouk and Philippe when I just realized that there were a female deer... eating my cheese. What kind of country does have otters that climb on your foot and deers eating your cheese?
Believe me, I don't take any drugs of alcohol so all of these is true.
We came back the following days and had the chance to see the otter again, by night but also in the day.
What about the Lynx?
Well, finding it was harder than I thought and we failed. In fact, we did not completely failed as we had the chance to clearly hear one calling close to the river but did not manage to see it by the way and you know I've been waiting for it to show up all day long ! This trip was too perfect not to have a single fail but this is how wildlife is: uncontrollable.
See? I finally got my magpies pictures, even if it went out of the trash bin. Nevermind !
And this is how our trip ends as I do not have to mention our last day in Port aventura. Who cares?
I've discovered a whole new place, and a whole new way of thinking wildlife tourism in Spain and Portugal. I've been thinking for so long that I had to go to Finland or Canada to see bears so well and discovered that Spain is as good as these places (even if you're not close that much). It looks like Italy is not bad too (but I keep it in mind for another trip maybe?).
I sure will be back to Spain one day...
REPTILES (24 species)
Anguis fragilis
Chalcides bedriagai
Chamaeleo chamaeleon
Coronella austriaca acutirostris
Coronella girondica (DOR)
Hemorrhois hippocrepis (DOR)
Iberolacerta cyreni
Iberolacerta galani
Iberolacerta martinezricai
Iberolacerta monticola
Lacerta bilineata
Lacerta schreiberi
Malpolon monspessulanus
Mauremys leprosa
Natrix (natrix) aestreptophora
Natrix maura
Podarcis guadarramae
Podarcis liolepis
Podarcis muralis
Psammodromus algirus
Rhinechis scalaris
Tarentola mauritanica
Vipera latastei
Vipera seoanei cantabrica
AMPHIBIANS (6 species)
Bufo (bufo) spinosus
Chioglossa lusitanica
Epidalea calamita
Pelophylax perezi
Rana iberica
Salamandra salamandra bernardezi
MAMMALS (18 species)
Arvicola sapidus
Canis lupus
Capra pyrenaica
Capreolus capreolus
Cervus elaphus
Chionomys nivalis
Dama dama
Delphinus delphis
Genetta genetta
Lutra lutra
Martes foina
Oryctolagus cuniculus
Ovis amon
Phocoena phocoena
Rupicapra pyrenaica
Sus scrofa
Ursus arctos
Vulpes vulpes
BIRDS (104 species)
Accipiter gentilis
Accipiter nisus
Actitis hypoleucos
Aegithalos caudatus
Aegypius monachus
Alcedo atthis
Alectoris rufa
Anas clypeata
Anas crecca
Anas platyrhynchos
Anas strepera
Anthus trivialis
Aquila adalberti
Aquila chrysaetos
Ardea cinerea
Arenaria interpres
Athene noctua
Bubo bubo
Bubulcus ibis
Buteo buteo
Calidris alpina
Calidris minuta
Calonectris diomedea
Caprimulgus europaeus
Caprimulgus ruficollis
Certhia brachydactyla
Cettia cetti
Charadrius alexandrinus
Charadrius hiaticula
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Cinclus cinclus
Coloeus monedula
Corvus corone
Corvus frugilegus
Cyanistes caeruleus
Cyanopica cooki
Cygnus olor
Delichon urbicum
Dendrocopos major
Egretta garzetta
Elanus caeruleus
Emberiza cia
Emberiza citrinella
Erithacus rubecula
Falco naumanni
Falco tinnunculus
Ficedula hypoleuca
Fringilla coelebs
Fulica atra
Galerida cristata
Gyps fulvus
Hieraaetus pennatus
Himantopus himantopus
Hirundo rustica
Hydrobates pelagicus
Lanius collurio
Lanius meridionalis
Larus fuscus
Larus michahellis
Lophophanes cristatus
Lullula arborea
Lyrurus tetrix
Milvus milvus
Monticola saxatilis
Monticola solitarius
Morus bassanus
Motacilla alba
Motacilla cinerea
Muscicapa striata
Numenius phaeopus
Nycticorax nycticorax
Oenanthe oenanthe
Otis tarda
Parus major
Passer domesticus
Passer montanus
Pastor roseus
Periparus ater
Phalacrocorax carbo
Phasianus colchicus
Philomachus pugnax
Phoenicopterus roseus
Phylloscopus collybita
Phylloscopus ibericus
Phylloscopus trochilus
Pica pica
Picus (viridis) sharpei
Prunella modularis
Puffinus puffinus
Pyrrhocorax graculus
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Riparia riparia
Saxicola rubetra
Saxicola rubicola
Sitta europaea
Stercorarius skua
Strix aluco
Sturnus vulgaris
Sylvia atricapilla
Sylvia communis
Sylvia sarda
Sylvia undata
Tringa nebularia
Upupa epops
