Herping and hiking on Sardinia (Italy)
December 27th 2024 – January 5th 2025
All pictures (c) of Jeroen Speybroeck & Gwen Declerck.
This year’s end-of-year getaway was my sixth and Gwen’s first trip to the beautiful island of Sardinia. What it lacks in snowy peaks, when compared to neighbouring Corsica, it makes up with its peculiar limestone mountain ranges, home to several species of cave salamanders (
Speleomantes spp.). As on some of our previous trips, the hardcore herping made way for a pleasant mixture of hikes and animals. We were blessed with pleasant weather, with lots of sunshine and little or no wind.
In terms of salamanders, as always, I tried to include places I had not visited before. It is well-known that cave salamanders venture into the above-ground world during winter, making them surprisingly easy to spot in rainy weather. Unfortunately, no rain this time, so checking caves and flipping stones were the remaining options. Unsurprisingly, some caves that were busy salamander meeting points in summer (during previous trips) were less buzzing now. A very pleasant success was finding 12 Sette Fratelli Cave Salamanders
Speleomantes sarrabusensis under stones at what was for me only the second site where I have been able to find this secretive species.
where we were
overview of my Sardinian cave salamander finds (2003-2025)
arrows indicating places visited during this trip, bold arrows indicating those where salamanders were found
We arrived early on Dec 27th at Cagliari airport, heading north to visit Su Nuraxi archaeological site (with Italian Wall Lizard
Podarcis siculus and Moorish Gecko
Tarentola mauritanica). Heading further north, near Samugheo (where we spent the subsequent night), we visited first a beautiful but somewhat tough to enter cave, with no salamanders in the amateur-accessible sections of the cave. Then, a revisit of a cave which held huge numbers of Imperial Cave Salamander
Speleomantes imperialis in the summer of 2020, yet only a single one this time. Was this going to be how the salamander harvest of the trip was going to pan out…?
Imperial Cave Salamander Speleomantes imperialis
The next morning, we tried but failed to find another cave near a nice water source. Then, we continued further east towards the Sopramonte. The day was not over yet before we squeezed ourselves in and out a cave that was usually a winner, but also salamanderless. We moved on to the Monte Maccione lodge where we would spend the next two nights.
Not a cloud in the sky for our superb hike on top of the Sopramonte, two salamander stops included. The first was a wide and deep hole in the ground, so “no go”. The second was a large cave with 10-20 Sopramonte Cave Salamanders
Speleomantes supramontis, and a top-notch reward for our hiking efforts.
Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis
Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis
Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis
Sopramonte Cave Salamander Speleomantes supramontis
The next day, we repeated our limestone highland hiking and visited two cavities I had visited before, with just a few Monte Albo Cave Salamanders
Speleomantes flavus. We moved further east to spend two nights in Cala Gonone.
Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus
Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus
Monte Albo Cave Salamander Speleomantes flavus
First hiked to the nuraghic complex Tiscali, then drove to the peculiar Pischina Urtaddala and stopped near again a hole that was too risky (for us) to enter. Stunning views throughout the day. No salamanders, but some Barbary partridges at dusk. New Year’s eve dinner was not too tasty, but the life music performance was.
First day of 2025 was sunny once more. First Gwen’s c-c-cold sea swim.
Then, we started to drive south for our final four nights near the Sette Fratelli forest, in the southeast of the island. A friend hinted a nice brook with some deep waterholes in it. A single Sardinian Brook Newt
Euproctus platycephalus sluggishly moved around in the deep water, but could not be persuaded for any half-decent photography.
Between Urzulei and Talana we randomly found a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, where we had the best authentic Sardinian lunch ever.
At dusk, we checked in to our cosy holiday home for the last, longer trip chapter.
The next day, we hiked about 15 km in the silent Sette Fratelli woods. At a well-known spot, I managed to find a single gorgeous Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander
Speleomantes sarrabusensis and two dark-coloured Tyrrhenian Painted Frogs
Discoglossus sardus. I was very happy to find what is probably my favourite cave salamander species again.
Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis
Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis
Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis
Tyrrhenian Painted Frog Discoglossus sardus
We switched island sides again, driving to the southwest to try to find the last remaining cave salamander species. First, we just had to admire the extremely numerous flamingoes near Cagliari.
Once we were back in salamander territory, a short hike and an abandoned mine gallery delivered three Gené’s Cave Salamander
Speleomantes genei at a spot further south than I had seen this species before. Cell phone shots had to do, as I forgot my camera’s memory cards at the house. The head morphology, with its short snout, struck me as clearly different than in the other Sardinian species.
Gené’s Cave Salamander Speleomantes genei
My main salamander hope and dream for this trip was to find Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander at the spot where I had not seen them before, so I was overjoyed to flip twelve in about an hour at a special site.
Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis
Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis
Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis
Sette Fratelli Cave Salamander Speleomantes sarrabusensis
After this, we hiked up to the Castello di Quirra, without succeeding of finding salamanders in the places we checked here. A 2020 success cave near Villasalto seemed also salamander-free this time.
Our final stop delivered a single Imperial Cave Salamander
Speleomantes imperialis and a Tyrrhenian Tree Frog
Hyla sarda in deep cracks in a building wall. We concluded our well-enjoyed trip with a seaside dinner and flew back home the next morning.
