Herpetological trip to Georgia
August 11th – 22nd 2021
Unless specified otherwise, all pictures (c) of Jeroen Speybroeck.
Where can we travel to with the current state of the pandemic? Where can we travel to with little preparation time and without missing out on any of the major herpetofauna highlights? Inspired by reports of herper friends, less than two days before taking off, Loïc and I decided that Georgia (the country!) was the ideal destination. With crucial info from herper friends, we set out and hoped for the best. We were not disappointed. I have probably worn out terms like “habitat diversity” and “myriad of species” in previous reports, but these hold very true for this amazing country. From dear friend Bobby Bok’s 2018 report we gained a lot of insight on what species are likely targets and which are not, from other herper friends such as Thomas Bader and Lennart Aiscan we got additional details on where to get good chances at finding many species. Our main goals were the two endemic amphibian species and the six viper species (I won’t go into lengthy discussion about viper taxonomy, but six is what we consider a sensible species number for now). We ended up finding all our target species and more. About halfway into the trip, we were joined by Kim, whose relentless energy helped to make our results even sweeter than they already were after the first couple of days.
Big thanks to all who allowed us to benefit from their previous experiences (mainly Bobby, GJ, Lennart, Thomas) and to my two travel companions and their stellar viper hunting skills and stamina.
sites of observation
August 11th
After a sleepless night of driving to the airport, Loïc and I flew from Cologne via Istanbul to Tbilisi, arriving in the late afternoon. We collected some essentials and headed west towards Borjomi. After fixing a place to sleep, we headed towards a special brook where team Bok successfully found one of the more enigmatic species on our target list. The guys at the rangers shack however told us we needed to get a permit from the national park’s head office first, which we did not yet have time to collect, given our late arrival. So, we drove on to team Bok’s second site for the same species, which was a less special type of water body, similar to what Yellow-bellied Toad
Bombina variegata inhabits in Central Europe. Maybe the rain helped, because while we were scratching our heads on how to get a sneaky frog out of that dense roadside vegetation, a female Caucasian Parsley Frog
Pelodytes caucasicus presented herself, sitting on the dirt road. What a fantastic way to start the trip! We could also hear a single male calling briefly, but we were unable to locate him. We also found our first Caucasian Brown Frog
Rana macrocnemis and some larvae of Banded Newt
Ommatotriton ophryticus.
female Pelodytes caucasicus, quite differently coloured than males
August 12th
Close to Borjomi, we started off at a well known site for
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana. Strong wind and a rather dry looking habitat offered us only a single, yet appreciated juvenile.
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Moving on to a higher, cooler habitat for the same species, we briefly stopped twice and spotted our first lizards, including
Darevskia rudis,
D. mixta,
Lacerta strigata and
Laudakia caucasia.
Darevskia rudis
Darevskia rudis
agama habitat
At the second viper spot, we found three more vipers.
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Darevskia adjarica
Cordulegaster mzymtae
Pleased with the nice result, we headed west to a special salamander site discovered by the hard work of team Bok. We were not disappointed! In the wet trickle behind the rocks in the brook bed underneath a little bridge, we found two Caucasian Salamanders
Mertensiella caucasica. Splendid animals!
some fuel
© Loïc van Doorn
Mertensiella caucasica
Mertensiella caucasica - © Loïc van Doorn
Mertensiella caucasica
Next, we started the drive on a road which had an orange colour on our maps but a brown colour and fluid texture in reality. Cost us 5-6 hours to drive 120 km. Muddy, road-becomes-river type of deal. Fun but exhausting. Luckily, cell phone reception is very good in this country, so Loïc could arrange for us to arrive late and still have a bed to crash. We finally reached the subtropical southern Black Sea Coast, from where we would try to find one of our main targets the next morning.
August 13th
In disbelief when we read that the coastal area has a subtropical climate, we soon experienced the hot and humid conditions in full force. Viper searching among ferns can be tough. After searching for most of the day, I had the honour of finding our first Caucasian Viper
Vipera kaznakovi, an absolute dream species and the last entry of my 4 major targets for this trip. Naturally, dancing and singing followed.
the playground – lush, warm and humid - © Loïc van Doorn
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
happy me – © Loïc van Doorn
Avoiding the adventurous southern road, we drove back inland to hit one of the southern montane viper species the next morning. At dusk, we flipped some stones on a steppe slope and soon found a nice Steppe Viper
Vipera renardi eriwanensis. Another success, as we expected this to be one of the tougher target species. This brought us already at 3 out of 6 viper species after only two days in the field.
Vipera renardi eriwanensis
Vipera renardi eriwanensis
August 14th
Viper hunt in the Lesser Caucasus. The clouds were kind enough to dissolve only when we arrived at the site where we would search for
Vipera darevskii close to the Armenian border. After less than 10 minutes, Loïc found the first one. Three more followed rather soon. Especially the second one, a young male, was a stunner. After a short and exciting episode of me losing the car key while a storm was coming in (always save the coordinates of where you roll on the ground photographing critters!), we fled the scene in cold rain. And in our car.
© Loïc van Doorn
Vipera darevskii
Vipera darevskii
Vipera darevskii
Vipera darevskii
We got on the phone with Kim and arranged to pick him up early two days later, so Loïc and I decided to herp not too far from the capital and the airport the next day. A late afternoon flipping round did not deliver much more than a Sand Boa
Eryx jaculus skin, a first Spur-thighed Tortoise
Testudo graeca and some dead Glass Lizards
Pseudopus apodus. Loïc went out after dark near a lake and found three chubby spadefoots/feet.
Pelobates syriacus - © Loïc van Doorn
August 15th
We mainly tried to pick up a few easy
Darevskia targets and had the naive notion of being able to find perhaps a late
Ommatotriton in the water. Only the first half of that mission panned out, but we did manage to spot some other species while we were at it. At night, I stayed in again to get some rest, while Loïc added the first individuals of both of the native terrapin species to our joined findings.
(most likely) Darevskia dahli
roadside pond with calling green toads
Green Toad Bufotes viridis
Ommatotriton site, but futile to search without the right equipment - © Loïc van Doorn
two Emys orbicularis and a Mauremys caspica - © Loïc van Doorn
August 16th
We picked up Kim at the airport and headed north towards the Greater Caucasus. Given the doubtful weather forecast of the day, our goal was to search for
Vipera dinniki the next morning. Chatting along the way, the drive passed quickly and we decided to head up to the famous Gergeti Trinity Church already. The last few kilometres, we hiked and I was happy to get out of the car for a bit. Clouded at first, but when we got to the church, cold rain followed. After hiding inside the church, slowly but surely, the weather started to improve, so we tried our luck and headed uphill. After some time, Kim and Loïc both found similar looking female vipers.
© Loïc van Doorn
© Loïc van Doorn
© Loïc van Doorn
Vipera dinniki
Vipera dinniki
Vipera dinniki
August 17th
The refreshing mountain air allowed for a great night’s sleep. Although we had quite a schedule ahead, trying to allow Kim to get a shot at most of the species we already had seen and going after some neither of us had seen so far, half a day was definitely not enough to leave this amazing area, so after a pancake breakfast, we had another viper hunt at a different site. Kim and Loïc both found a good-looking male viper.
Loïc with breakfast buddy – © Kim Roelants
where we need to be: steep scree – © Loïc van Doorn
as found – © Loïc van Doorn
as posed
Vipera dinniki
Vipera dinniki
Vipera dinniki
Vipera dinniki
After that, we set out to target viper species n° 6 – the Blunt-nosed Viper
Macrovipera lebetinus. The drive to our nearest
lebetinus spot wasn’t too bad, so we headed south. In the late afternoon, we could still squeeze in a river bed stop before it got dark. Here,
Eremias velox was expected but not found, which was made up for by some tortoises and terrapins and a Glass Lizard
Pseudopus apodus.
Spur-thighed Tortoise Testudo graeca
Caspian Terrapin Mauremys caspica
© Kim Roelants
Glass Lizard Pseudopus apodus
We hit the viper spot right on time. A single green toad, lots of oversized invertebrates, a Worm Snake
Xerotyphlops vermicularis and after a while, a single juvenile viper.
© Loïc van Doorn
Blunt-nosed Viper Macrovipera lebetinus
Blunt-nosed Viper Macrovipera lebetinus
August 18th
With still quite some time on our hands, we decided we would definitely try for some more coastal vipers. Making our way back west, first one of the nicer lizard species,
Darevskia valentini. Male breeding colours are most likely brighter earlier in the year, but let’s have a go at them anyway. It would allow us to also at least check out the habitat of the southern
Vipera renardi eriwanensis populations, of which we did not expect to find any, given previous summer failure of several other herper crews.
The lizard target was easily met, including a shy, but nicely coloured male.
Darevskia valentini
Darevskia valentini
The hot and very dry steppe snake habitat quickly delivered some Sand Lizards
Lacerta agilis and, much to our surprise, also a viper. It looked as if it had lived through a couple of world wars, but we (and Kim in particular) were very pleased to find it nonetheless.
© Kim Roelants
Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis
Vipera renardi eriwanensis
happie chappies
Because we definitely needed to get Kim a salamander and random sites were not likely to get us any further than larvae, we revisited the same site and found four this time. Also an additional one in a different nearby brook.
As he wrote his PhD on old frog lineages, Kim’s number one target for the region was
Pelodytes caucasicus. So, we revisited our earlier successful site for that species as well. While we did find a fresh egg clutch, we failed to find any adults this time.
eggs of Pelodytes caucasicus
August 19th
Being in the vicinity, we revisited our more successful nose-horned viper spot, to give Kim a shot at getting to see this species as well. Three vipers, none of which recaptures of our first visit, popped up.
© Loïc van Doorn
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
Vipera (ammodytes) transcaucasiana
© Loïc van Doorn
Darevskia adjarica
not too big on dogs, but Georgia seems to pack only the sweetest kind – © Kim Roelants
As a final stop of the day, my nice companions allowed me to tick another nondescript
Darevskia. Better do a decent lizard tour in spring some time; the main (viper) dish was too tasty to dive deeper into all these taxa at such short notice.
a not terribly attractive subadult Darevskia brauneri
August 20th
With only a single one found during our first 2-person attempt, we were not sure what to expect from our second round for
Vipera kaznakovi, but we were amply rewarded with another six of these stunning vipers. Fantastic!
© Kim Roelants
both of these heroes found three vipers each, but not without effort
when we got back to the car, the friendly local people offered us some coffee
Darevskia derjugini
Darevskia derjugini
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
Vipera kaznakovi
happy with so many amazing vipers - © Kim Roelants
We knew that we needed to reach the Borjomi park office before 18h00 if we wanted to get a permit to visit the better
Pelodytes site after dark, but we decided it would be a shame to leave the rainforest so soon. So, we first hiked towards a beautiful waterfall. Loïc found a
Bufo (bufo) verrucosissimus and spotted a single, sadly unretrievable
Mertensiella, but to be in the place was a blessing in itself.
© Loïc van Doorn
© Kim Roelants
We couldn’t have Kim miss out on his number one target, and I was also keen on seeing another, perhaps more natural
Pelodytes habitat. Kim called the park staff and was able to arrange for us to be allowed in after dark, despite not making it in time to the office. Great! It was Kim himself who spotted a first frog leaping across the dirt road. After that, we managed to find two males in the stream bed.
happy frogman
Pelodytes caucasicus - female
Pelodytes caucasicus - male
Pelodytes caucasicus - second male
Pelodytes caucasicus - male - © Loïc van Doorn
Rana macrocnemis
Bufo (bufo) verrucosissimus
August 21st
The guys granted me yet another dull lizard detour on our way from amphibian heaven towards another viper night hunt. I was keen on seeing what type of habitat
Darevskia praticola occupies here, to compare with my encounters in Greece and Bulgaria. No pristine oak forest needed here, as Kim found a single shy one along a random poplar tree row.
a not too fancy Georgian habitat of Darevskia praticola
shy Darevskia praticola
We were preparing to spend the final night looking for a large(r)
Macrovipera lebetinus. To our surprise, Loïc and Kim found one during the day already, flipping a two-person size rock. Great snake, although it looked like it could use a meal.
the fancy habitat of many reptile species near the Azeri border
a juvenile Eirenis collaris in poor shape
Blunt-nosed Viper Macrovipera lebetinus - © Loïc van Doorn
Blunt-nosed Viper Macrovipera lebetinus
Blunt-nosed Viper Macrovipera lebetinus - © Loïc van Doorn
We decided to change our evening plan to try to get Kim his lifer
Pelobates syriacus, but warm, dry and windy conditions got in the way.
August 21st
After a lazy start, we tried to flip some stuff, hoping to find
Dolichophis schmidti or
Elaphe urartica, but quickly ran out of time and went to the airport with huge overall satisfaction on a wonderful trip.
Species list
