By Plato Stefanopoulos
Introduction
This trip report doesn’t need an introduction, other than the fact that it’s in many ways a direct continuation of Herping Boeotia October 2021 - The Caspius Project Part I. After a rough winter, months of intense anticipation, marking spots on the map and fantasizing about it, it was happening, it was finally happening!!! - I was about to embark on an epic solo trip to lovely Boeotia and Phthiotis. After several visits to the prefectures in late summer and early fall and seeing all the potential, I was more than ready to finally get to herp there properly and get to see what Central Greece really has to offer. The goals of this trip were very simple: photograph a living Caspian whipsnake, Balkan wall lizard, check out as many of the spots I had marked on the map as possible, and herp as hard as I possibly could. Without thinking about it much, I was on my way.
Day 1
Chapter 1: Herp-lusions of Grandeur
My journey started one sunny Early April morning. The roads were empty and the drive to Lamia was a breeze, though the toll rates did sting a little. Nevertheless, the temperature was pleasantly warm, and outside somewhat low humidity, the conditions seemed excellent for some habitat hiking, and my confidence was high. When I was finally arriving at my spot for caspius and tauricus, however, I was met by extreme wind and subsequent drought. At least the amphibians were active, and I heard Balkan frogs calling and saw toad eggs on a short hike. I also looked at some trash, to no avail, as not a single reptile could be found. After having lunch, I was about to quit, until I finally saw a Balkan green lizard crossing the road. The reptiles were out! At last, I had arrived at my spot, and after playing with some turtles, I finally found tauricus and caspius, and proceeded to tragically miss every single individual, of course, as I was still largely out of form, they are lightning fast, and the wind was very distracting. Defeated, I made a sorry attempt to check out some nearby sites, also to no avail.
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| Despite my best efforts and the habitat being as open as it was, I still failed to catch this one. |
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| Despite my best efforts, I could not get this Emys to cooperate |
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| Pelophylax kurtmuelleri juv. terrestrial behavior. Seemingly self-destructive considering the low humidity levels |
Since the reptiles were out, I figured I should visit a hiking spot where I had found caspius sheds in the fall. Immediately upon arriving, I scared a large adult that instantly shot down a hole. I swiftly dove in and tried to look in the grass to see if it hadn’t found a hole after all. To my astonishment, I heard a different snake moving in the tall grass and managed to coax it out; it was a viper! I quickly caught the snake and pulled it out! It was a beautiful male, and it felt especially good after I had missed an adult female in Attica a few days prior. After a few photos, I let the snake go on its way. Following the release of the viper, I kept scouting the same rocks, and saw a small section of a juvenile caspius that was sitting still. I figured it was finally my chance, but as I placed my hand down to catch it, I realized that it was actually basking while dead and the upper half had been eaten! After a short uneventful hike in the general area, I got back in my car and started making my way to what is allegedly one of the most diverse spots in all of Phthiotis (also known (unofficially) as God spot), hoping to at least see some more snakes before I ended the day.
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| First photographed Vipera ammodytes of 2022. This young male seemed like it was nearing the end of a shed cycle and/or was still somewhat muddy for brumation |
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| Inspecting the D. caspius juv. I found basking while dead next to the hibernaculum. |
Chapter 2: The Ivy
After many minutes of trials and tribulations, I was finally on site. Even after a couple hours of habitat hiking and checking out some tin in the afternoon, no more snakes were found that day. That being said, I did find some excellent amphibians instead. A vernal pool had Bufonidae and Rana dalmatina tadpoles as well as 5 breeding Greek smooth newts!
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| Bufotes viridis adult female |
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| Bufonidae & Rana dalmatina (allegedly) |
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| A beautiful breeding male smooth newt |
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| felt surreal being in an actual forest after all that time |
Excitement aside, the sun was dipping down the horizon and
it was about time I started making my way back to the room. Before I went
there, I figured I should check out a couple promising-looking spots I had
marked on the map a while ago for the next morning, since they were on the way
and all. While the first one was a complete bust, the second one looked like it
could harbor some herps, so I put my faith into it.
Day 2
Chapter 3: The Trash Man
I woke up early with filthy, disgusting trash in mind. I
opened my window to be met by honestly cold and densely overcast conditions.
Since the herping season was still so young, I figured there was a chance that
there wouldn’t be enough movement for snakes to be under things. Demotivated by
the thought, I ended up taking over an hour to exit.
I
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| Adult male A. graeca. Little did I know at the time that this animal is one of the most common ones that can be flipped in most of Greece in the spring. |
After running out of easy pieces, I decided that I had had enough of my frivolity and started doing something new: I began digging in piles of garbage. Bags, clothes, tarps, pottery, no matter how stacked or piled up they were, I shot my shot, and to my astonishment, it was working! I found a dice snake, a young common toad and a Balkan green lizard, but most importantly, I had found my confidence. I visited the mountain of garbage I initially thought was unflippable, and immediately, under a plant saucer on top of the pile was an absolutely massive Dahl’s. Due to it being cold, I was able to catch and contain it. In the same pile, I found two more individuals, plus another slow worm, all of which managed to escape my grasp.
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| B. bufo young |
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| In situ boxers. Probably the least questionable thing I found discarded on this trip... |
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| "Subadult" trilineata in habitat |
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| N. tessellata juv posing defensively on top of its rather unusual refuge |
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| Huge adult Dahl's. This giant measured about 120 cm. TL, if not longer. |
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| too bad my car keys ruined this photo |
After that, I began physically exerting myself. A giant mattress produced a glass lizard, I tragically and stupidly missed a big male ammodytes, and found several other Anguis.
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| Pseudopus apodus adult male. It had finished predating a snail not long before the picture was taken, as slime was smeared all over its nose and lips. |
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| A younger Greek slow worm |
I then visited a second spot and herped with similar zeal, though the only fruits of my labor were a young stripeless grass snake and an escaped young green lizard as the flip site had tragically been bulldozed. At that point, I had already exhausted myself, and figured I should take a break from herping and head to the mighty Spercheios river in search of fishes. My hopes were pretty low as the water was extremely high but due to previous floods, there were countless slow-flowing and shallow pools which were full of Pelophylax kurtmuelleri and Alburnoides economoui, a Spercheios endemic cyprinid and one of my top fish targets ever. I was lucky enough to catch several with my trusty dip net.
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| Stripeless morph grass snake. It shot down a hole immediately after this photo was taken, which was regrettable as it was a really beautiful individual and I wanted a few more pics before letting it go |
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| Dip netting Spercheios... |
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| Alburnoides economoui - one of several ichthyo-gems of the Spercheios |
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| the mighty Spercheios in its upper reaches, with snowy Mt. Tymfristos towering over the entire valley |
After I released the fishes, I was back in action, this time heading north to another giant garbage dump I had found on Google maps. It took me an embarrassingly long time to get there and I was absolutely discombobulated upon discovering that the pieces were so freshly laid that the entire attempt was essentially a complete waste, with a juvenile Hermann’s tortoise being the only herp I found at that spot.
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| Testudo hermanni juv., also not cooperating. A reoccuring theme for turtles and tortoises in this trip report |
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| Tick bomb |
Having ran out of spots inland, I figured I should visit one last flip site near the coast before attempting to complete my second objective of the day. That flip site was also freshly laid and a complete bust, outside an escaped juniper skink which (paradoxically) ended up being the only individual I saw for the entirety of the trip.
It was getting darker by the minute, so I figured it was finally about time to search for a mythical place – the Thermopylae Hot Springs Catchment. According to Greek ichthyo-legend, there exists a strong introduced population of tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in the thermal creek of Thermopylae, and the idea had always deeply fascinated and amused me. That, and, there is some garbage around the area, so there was really nothing to lose by checking the place out.
I visited over 5 access points, both for garbage as well as to check thermal springs, but I only found Gambusia and bad flip sites. Exhausted and somewhat disappointed, I arrived at the Monument to the 700 Thespians, my penultimate stop for the day. Unsurprisingly, there were no fishes to be found, but it was a cool place, so I decided to check out the hot water and take some pictures. As I was doing that, a modified, all-black, early 00s SEAT Ibiza pulled up next to me very fast, though I did not think much of it. The driver (an overweight man in his 60s) exited the car, assumed an S-like posture leaning on the side of the car, and started smoking a cigarette. We made brief eye contact, which was unsettling to say the least. When I got up and started making my way back to my car, I inspected the man once again, and in that moment, he turned around, bent over, and lowered his pants, flaunting his bare buttocks. Immediately, I started running for my life. I don’t think I’ve ever driven this fast on a dirt road before. Horrifyingly enough, he pursued me at high speed for a considerable distance, but gave up after about five minutes.
Shaken up from the incident, the only thing I felt I could possibly do was to finish the schedule of the day, and consequently, I went to check out a final potential flip site. It ended up being terrible, but paradoxically, I had found what I was really after; I checked the nearby water feature and that was it – Thermopylae Hot Springs Catchment!! Tilapia were abundant and I shot my shot. I caught one with my hook and line and a worm I had found on site, but as I lifted it from out of the water, it tragically slipped from my hands. I tried for a few more minutes, but night was falling fast, and I had to leave. I figured I should take backroads to the hotel, however, my 40+ minute road cruise was failed, with only a single kurt found AOR, even though the conditions were seemingly decent for amphibians. I then grabbed dinner and went to my hotel room. Satisfied, and excited for what was about to come the next day after creating a plan, I was fast asleep.
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| The scene of the crime at the monument to the 700 Thespians |
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| Thermopylae Hot Springs Catchment |
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| kurt |
Day 3
Chapter 5: One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure
I woke up, got ready, opened my window, and I was greeted by beautifully overcast and humid conditions. Motivated and confident, I quickly got ready, packed my stuff, checked out of my hotel room and I was on my way home. However, there was a catch; I was going to spend another night in Central Greece and the way back to Athens would take almost 2 full days, which would be spent checking out as many in-between spots as I could physically withstand checking. This was the part of the trip that I was truly the most excited about, as I had been eyeballing these places on the maps and dreaming about all the good things that could happen there for months.
After driving for a while, I made my first stop at a garbage dump in lowland Southern Phthiotis, which looked excellent for caspius. It was open, humid and there were comical amounts of Microtus activity everywhere. Much to my dismay, however, the place had been bulldozed (a reoccurring theme for this trip), there was a very small amount of decent cover left, and consequently, I only turned up a young Hermann’s tortoise and a Greek slow worm.
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| As per usual, this tortoise was not cooperating. However, it did expose its head and legs when lifted off the ground, so I turned lemons into lemonade. |
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| An adult male Greek slow worm assuming a questionable pose |
After a long drive, I was finally at the second spot for the day. I knew it was a huge site and I thought it would probably take a couple hours, but little did I know, I was destined to stay there for 7 long hours. Things looked absolutely hopeless for the first hour-or-so, with tons of perfect pieces flipped with nothing to show for it, apart from some young green lizards basking outside some shrubs. That was until the tarp. It was set on an incline, but it looked so promising with all its folded layers that I just had to get to the bottom of it. After looking in the layers without finding anything, I tried to lift the entire thing, but it was lodged too well, it would seem. I was tugging for several minutes, though my efforts were in vain. I was about to quit, until I uncovered pieces of a smooth-scaled snake shed. I kept pulling with zeal until I got dizzy and my arm started hurting, and finally, I got to the bottom of the layers, revealing a gigantic nose-horned viper. After an embarrassingly long struggle, I managed to contain the snake, and I was back to flip the rest of the tarp. The rest of it came up easily, and I could not believe my eyes – another stunning viper, a giant slow worm, and situla! I quickly grabbed both harmless reptiles and covered the viper back up. I went back to the car, got the gloves and hook, flipped the tarp again, and effortlessly got the snake under control. I could not believe what had just happened was real. After photographing the reptiles, contacting my friends and family, and releasing them, I kept flipping.
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| The giant adult male ammodytes, photographed with the selfie stick. Even though it was dusty and/or about to shed, it was still a beauty. |
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| What a snake... |
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| First situla of 2022! a pretty typically sized young adult snake (approx. 80cm) |
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| The same snake in habitat. Given the behavior of these snakes, I still don't know how I managed to take this photo. |
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| Giant Anguis in habitat |
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| The same lizard flicking its tongue |
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| The second ammodytes male. Easily one of the most unique and beautiful individuals of the species I have ever seen. |
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| This snake had an aggressively defensive demeanor and consequently, it was not possible to take any decent in habitat shots. |
Outside some Balkan green lizards, I wasn’t finding any herps for a while, until I scared and missed a giant Malpolon or Dolichophis that was basking. As I flipped some nearby cover, I saw it – caspius! I managed to grab the young snake, as well as an adult glass lizard, which it was sharing its piece with. I was so exhausted that I didn’t even have the energy to celebrate. I had finally done it, after so many months of failure, I could finally say that I had photographed caspius, one of my favorite snakes ever, in its natural habitat. After a brief photography session, the reptiles were released.
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| Lacerta trilineata juv. |
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| Lacerta trilineata sub. (allegedly) |
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| My lifer Caspian whipsnake. For a while I was convinced the day would never come |
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| View of the whole animal |
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| Pseudopus apodus sitting atop its throne of garbage |
By the time I had released my lifer Caspian whipsnake, it was already late afternoon. Exhaustion was hitting hard and I was approaching my physical limits, but I figured that the weather/spot combination was far too perfect for me to just quit halfway through the effort. A mountain of garbage produced a young Balkan racer (which I confused with caspius at the time of capture) and a beautiful juvenile leopard snake. A few meters down, I also found a second a second juvenile Caspian whip snake. I was having difficulty believing that what was happening was actually real, and after 7 hours at this place, it was finally time to leave.
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| Not caspius! |
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| Hierophis gemonensis are one of my favorite snakes and i'm always delighted to see them |
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| Juvenile leopard snakes are often the more attractive ones |
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| Closeup of the same snake |
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| The second caspius of the day, as flipped. A juvenile, probably in shed and the last snake I managed to find that day |
Chapter 6: Flogging a Dead Horse
I was already satisfied from the first snake of the day, let alone the other 6 that followed, but I thought that it was still possible to potentially squeeze in a couple more decent finds until night fell. I checked another site, but it was too wet (and had been bulldozed) and I only ended up finding a single slow worm.
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| Last slow worm of the trip |
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| tick bomb 2 |
As I was about to cross the border to Boeotia, I almost checked out another potential flip site, but I ended up not stopping. I was so exhausted that I felt like I was physically incapable. After an honestly short drive, I was finally in Boeotia. I checked in, went out to grab some quality souvlaki, and went to my hotel room. I was feeling amazing and was absolutely exhilarated as the hotel room was more comfortable than my own home. After a long shower, I was fast asleep, unsure as to what I was exactly going to do the next day as I had not marked very many good spots this far south.
Day 4
Chapter 7: Boeotia the Beautiful
It was freakishly early in the morning when I woke up because the temperature of the room was just too high. I was very distraught by this as I was close to having the perfect sleep. That being said, I took advantage of the circumstances, packed my stuff, and was ready to herp in Beautiful Boeotia. I first went to a nearby garbage dump. Much to my dismay, I was charged at by stray dogs, but that still was not enough to deter me, and I kept herping with the aggravated canines next to me. Regrettably, I wasn’t finding any snakes, so I decided to leave. I spotted some semi-decent-looking roadside rocks, and amazingly, one of them had a juvenile quatuorlineata under it!! This was a great find as I needed to find the species in the area for a little project of mine I’m working on. It felt great to be back in Boeotia and finding quality herps while at it.
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| Elaphe quatuorlineata juv. |
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| same |
Chapter 8: Quitting
While my herping day in Boeotia had a very strong start, nothing significant came after that (apart from my first time photographing Microtus). I revisited a lot of familiar sites and a couple of new ones and found the same species and even the same tortoise that I did the previous year. The weather was about 24 degrees and sunny, and with weather this hot this early in the year, there really isn’t much one can do. Exhausted, and fully satisfied from my 8 photographed species of snake, I decided to call it quits in early afternoon, and started making my way home, with my mom’s lemon chicken and the comfort of home in mind.
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| Young margie, not cooperating |
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| Microtus - arguably my favorite rodents in Greece. The animal was not harmed in any way |
Closing remarks
I don’t even know what to say here, other than after so many trips in so many places, this still remains as one of my favorites ever. It was an adventure and a learning experience, and a strong start to an amazing spring in the field. It took some time to let everything sink in. When I got home, the preparation for my Western Greece and Corfu herping trip was already underway, and the potential seemed limitless.
Species seen:
Caspian whip snake (Dolichophis caspius)
Balkan wall lizard (Podarcis tauricus) (seen but not photographed)
European green toad (Bufotes viridis)
Balkan frog (Pelophylax kurtmuelleri)
European tree frog (Hyla arborea) (call)
Balkan terrapin (Mauremys rivulata)
European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis)
Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)
Greek smooth newt (Lissotriton graecus)
Agile frog (Rana dalmatina) (larvae)
Greek slow worm (Anguis graeca)
Common toad (Bufo bufo)
Dice snake (Natrix tessellata)
Dahl’s whip snake (Platyceps najadum)
European glass lizard (Pseudopus apodus)
Grass snake (Natrix natrix)
European copper skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii) (seen but not photographed)
Leopard snake (Zamenis situla)
Balkan racer (Hierophis gemonensis)
Four-lined rat snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata)
Ocellated skink (Chalcides ocellatus)
Marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata)