Herping in the Netherlands

[wouter]

Mark Bakkers and I visited some habitats in the south of the Netherlands the last days. We found:
Lissotriton vulgaris
Mesotriton alpestris
Rana lessonae
Rana kl. esculenta
Rana temporaria
Rana arvalis
Bufo bufo
Zootoca vivipara

Some shots of the search:

Lissotriton vulgaris juvenile:

A temporary pond with L. vulgaris and M. alpestris larvae, and some Rana lessonae:

A female M. alpestris...

The underside:

And a juvenile:

 

[wouter]

A grating witch wildlife can't pass, habitat for all the amphibian species we found:

A L. vulgaris larvae in the grating:

A Moorfrog, Rana arvalis:

Common toad with nice colouration:

Some introduced cows witch aren't allowed to cross the grating... destroying amphibian habitat

 

[kevin]

I didn`t know that such cows lived in holland.

 

[mark]

Those are highland cattle from Scotland by the looks of it. They seem quite happy in the lowlands of the Netherlands though...

Love the colour on that Bufo bufo

 

[william]

what's zootoca vivipara?

great pictures!

 

[mark]

It's one of the few indigenous lizard species of the Netherlands. Perhaps Wouter can post a photo?

 

[kevin]

I hope so.

 

[christian]

You still make very nice pictures Wouter!!

 

[mike]

Great pictures Wouter.....the last one could possibly be a Hairy Frog (Astylosternus robustus). ;-)

Will, you probably know Zootoca vivipara by it's synonym: Lacerta vivipara, the Common or Viviparous Lizard.

 

[wouter]

Thanks for all the reactions everyone!

Here's a Zootoca pic for William:

 

[terry]

Those Scottish Highlanders look impressive. I remember seeing a few of them in 't Twiske when i was doing my rounds.

Herping in Noord Holland is not as succesful yet it does produce some interesting results eventhough i live in the suburbs.

 

[mark]

Yes the cows looked quite impressive eating the grass while wading through the pond.

I can imagine that it's difficult finding amphibians in Amsterdam. "Het Groene Hart" is a nice place with a lot of ponds and water, there should be a lot of amphibians there and it isn't that far away from where you live.

 

[terry]

Hey Mark!
Erm why are we speaking english with each other? hahah just kidding. For the past month i have been doing some herping in the whole area of zuid oost. The population of Lissotriton vulgaris for example is tremendous and i am surprised not one was mentioned in the website waarneming.nl. I did however see a very interesting thing. A large green frog ( cannot remember the species name) that was supposed ot be rare and difficult to find in one of the nature areas near my place ( groen gebied amstelland, Gaasperplas/ Diemen Bos/ Penbos/ Overdiemen/ De Hogedijk etc)

In the spring and summer i always take some time spotting the adult L. vulgaris in the above mentioned areas. Am always on a hope for some miracle that I might one day encounter the elusive T cristatus but tja.. I can only wish. I guess i will have to be content with the usual amphibians in my area.

 

[william]

ahhh! sorry, i'm not up to date on changes in reptile taxonomy...

Mike, it may just be me again, but isn't the hairy frog trichobatrachus, not astylosternus???

 

[mike]

Very nice! Thanks for posting.

 

[rene]

very nice picture's wouter