Indre, France in April

[Mark]

I've spent the last week in the Indre region of France hiking in some of my favourite forests and wooded river valleys. Salamandra salamandra terrestris larvae are very abundant at this time of year, appearing in most small pools, troughs and puddles. Adults are harder to find, mostly hiding under rotten logs. The wet, cold April weather made them easier to find than during the hot summer months however. I was also fortunate to find my very first marbled newt in the wild! Having kept T.marmoratus for many years as an "exotic" it was really magic to find a sub adult under a log. As soon as I picked it up it oozed toxins and was extremely uncooperative, but that didn't wipe the smile off my face You must excuse the quality of some of the photos, it was lashing down with rain and I haven't quite mastered taking aquatic shots in the field.

Woodland habitat inhabited by S.s.terrestris (not in the stream!)

S.terrestris larva

S.s.terrestris close to morphing

Triturus marmoratus - note the white toxic secretions

Lissotrition helveticus larva

Adult male Lissotriton helveticus through very wet and dirty glass.

Salamandra salamandra terrestris

Probably the finest looking S.s.terrestris I've had the pleasure of finding.

 

[mr cyclone]

Excellent photo's Mark ,i'm dead jealous of your herping,did you encounter wild pigs or wolves?

 

[Azhael]

This is torture....i didn´t get my chance to herp this year...seeing pictures like this makes me want to scream!
Ach, man...that place is incredible...
Congratulations on your first wild T.marmoratus It´s always such a rush to see a new species in the field.
The shot with the toxins is really neat.

I´m going to close this thread, now, before another look at the L.helveticus sends me down a spiral of wanton destruction.

 

[Molch]

dude...dude...dude...(hyperventilating)....duuude....{thudd}...<thudd></thudd>

 

[Lamb]

Great photos! I love the landscape shot, very beautiful location. Is that in a protected area/park of some sort?

Also, are you using a photobox to photograph larvae in the field? If so, could you take a picture of it and post it? I've built two, but am curious as to how other people have built/designed theirs.

 

[Mark]

Sadly due to rather heavily enforced weight restrictions of a particular Irish airline I was forced to leave the photo box in France. It's essentially a small plastic container which has had one side removed and replaced with glass. A sloping compartment is then created to force critters to the front of the container. The rear of the container can then be filled with whatever background material you want. It worked pretty well but the weather and water clarity were against me. I'll definately make a Mark II for use in the UK.

Molch - try breathing into a paper bag.

Aaron - no pigs or wolves. Lots of deer and birds of prey. It's nice to be able to walk for 15km without seeing another human. Not something you can easily do in the UK.

Lamb - mostly the forests we went to are private land but once you're in who is going to stop you? Indre has a large area of national park called the Brenne which is a nice collection of water bodies and forests.