Spontaneous fieldtrip! In the beginning of September three of us went to Hungary to see some of the (sub)species which occur there but not in Austria: Dolichophis caspius (Caspian whipsnake / Kaspische Springnatter), Ablepharus kitaibelii (European snake-eyed skink / Johannisechse), Podarcis tauricus (Balkan wall lizard / Taurische Eidechse) and Vipera berus bosniensis (a southern subspecies of the common adder / eine südliche Unterart der Kreuzotter). And - to sum it up - it was most likely the least successful trip abroad until now. Of our target species we only found the European snake-eyed skink, and thereof only one specimen. The only commonly found species of this trip was Lacerta viridis (green lizard / Smaragdeidechse) in Budapest. Apart from that, only some (very) sporadic juvenile Lacerta agilis (sand lizard / Zauneidechse) in the southwesternmost part of Hungary. One of the highlights of the trips definitely has been a medium sized Lycosa singoriensis ("wolf spider" / Südrussische Tarantel), one of the biggest European spider species, and definitely the biggest one in central Europe. All in all a really nice trip, lots of nice steppe habitats, but unfortunately with a very low species count -- and not a single snake in three days!! Not even a stinky grass snake...

 

 

And for the size comparison - the smallest skink of Europe and the biggest spider of central Europe (this spider specimen is by far not as big as they can get)

 

Today's random music link: 5K HD 10/15

Hooray for the second time! The first field trip since the last one more than a year ago! We were in the easternmost region of Austria, the Hundsheimer Berge and Hainburg (N. tessellata and L. viridis), as well as in the Marchfeld (L. agilis).

 

 

Hooray! Finally! Here some pictures from the first short lizard-clicking trip this year. The pictures won't win a price, but I'm still glad and satisfied. Hopefully more to come!

 

 

Todays music link: A russian cyberfolk song, best listen to it without subtitles first :-)