Book Club – Other Reference Books

June 2, 2023August 23, 2025 bartvanhoofamphibians, birds, books, crickets, grasshappers, Hymenoptera, orthoptera, reptiles1 Comment

Amphibians & Reptiles

Arnold, E. Nicholas & Denys W. Ovenden – A Field Guide to the Reptiles & Amphibians of Britain & Europe – second edition reprint with corrections – 2004 (1978 first edition) – William Collins – 288 pp. A pretty decent overview but it shows its age. The book by Speybroeck et al has just surpassed this in most aspects. The information is good, but I found it slightly difficult to use because all illustrations are in the middle and so you are flipping back and forth all the time. Have the hardcover version.
Speybroeck, Jeroen, Wouter Beukema, Bobby Bok, Jan Van Der Voort & Ilian Velikov – Field Guide to the Amphibians & Reptiles of Britain and Europe – 2016 – Bloomsbury – 432 pp. Another entry in the British Wildlife Field Guise series and another great one. A must buy.

Note

Although not a book, you can get a decent pamphlet for amphibians in Cantabria from Red Cambera in PDF format here. I was able to get a physical copy when I did some volunteer work with them, they might still have some so try and contact them if you are interested.

Birds

Svensson, Lars, Killian Mullarney & Dan Zetterström – Birds of Europe – second edition – 2009 (1999 first edition) – Princeton University Press – 447 pp. My copy is absolutely beat up, which should indicate just how good this book is, as I take it with me everywhere I go. This summer (2023) a third edition will be released, it will be a must-buy for me. Everything is goof about this book, I’ve seen books on European birds by others, but they all pale in comparison. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Note
Birding is probably the #1 hobby for those who enjoy nature observation … and while I love it and it was the gateway for me into the world of butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects, I feel hopelessly inadequate when it comes to IDing birds. Not in the first part because I’m terrible at bird calls. However, I continue to get enjoyment from it even though I have my deficiencies … but if I ever did nature tours etc. in Cantabria, this is the area I’d need help in. It is also the main reason why I do not write much about birds, too many other people know much, much more than I do so I do not feel like I’m adding to the conversation at all.

Hymenoptera (Bees, Wasps, & Ants)

Falk, Steven & Richard Lewington – Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland – 2015 – Bloomsbury – 432 pp. Lewington illustrates this excellent introduction and overview of bees. The main issue is that here in Spain there are many more species, especially in the difficult families. However, a valuable learning tool that is even better when coupled with Mr Falk’s Flickr page. An excellent entry in the British Wildlife Field Guide series.

Note
Bees, and then especially bumblebees, are a passion. I love them, but … they are so difficult to ID without catching and collecting them so that you can take detailed pictures. That is not something I’m ready to get into now. My goal is to one day write a big article on the bumblebees of Cantabria. I live with the realisation that I’ll continue taking pictures of bees I spot in the wild but will probably not get further in IDing them than a family and a handful of possible species it might be. Still …
As far as ants and wasps are concerned … they are even more difficult.

Orthoptera (Crickets & Grasshoppers)

Bellmann, Heiko, Florin Rutschmann, Christian Roesti & Axel Hochkirch – Veldgids Sprinkhanen en Krekels van Europa – 2020 – KNNV Publishing – 432 pp. Another great publication by the KNNV … but in Dutch. There is a German version available too. It does not cover all Orthoptera in Europe in detail with mainly very specific species in southern Europe only briefly covered. However, several of the authors also volunteer their services IDing photos that users upload to Observation.org so with their input there you can get far. A must buy for those interested in these insects.

Other

Fitter, Richard, Alastair Firrer & Ann Farrer (illus.) – Collins Pocket Guide: Grasses, Sedges, Rushes & Ferns of Britain and Northern Europe – reprint 1992 (1984 first edition) – Collins – 256 pp. A really excellent introduction. I do not know much about grasses etc. but this has been a great source of information. The maps don’t show Cantabria, but many of the species discussed occur here as well.
Jahns, Hans Martin – Collins Guide to the Ferns, Mosses & Lichens of Britain and Northern and Central Europe – 1983 – Collins – 272 pp. Another topic I know nothing about, but the book has helped out greatly. Both this and the grass book have been excellent to figure out what some of the larval host plants are of butterflies and moths.

Comments

More will be added if I pick up other books … am still looking for one on European mammals and maybe some other interesting insect groups, like beetles.

RAm Report – Seoane’s Viper – Vipera seoanei Lataste, 1879

May 23, 2023May 23, 2023 bartvanhoof30TVN09, amphibians, Cabezón de la Sal, Cantabria, Seoane's viper, Snake, Spain, Viper, Vipera seoanei1 Comment

Introduction

It has been a minute since I’ve posted a RAm Report … a what?! … a report on Reptiles & Amphibians. Just a side track first, RAm is a little play on words, as in my daily work I often come across a risk assessment matrix (RAM) reference when it concerns projects. When people think about reptiles, snakes are often first to their mind, the poisonous ones, so you might need to do a little personal risk assessment if you come across one in the field.

Anyway, silliness aside, snakes can be split into various families, with vipers (Viperidae) being one. I will not be going into the others now, too much there for this post. In our region (Cantabrian Mountains more or less) there are three species of viper:

Asp viper (Vipera aspis) – found from about a north/south line through Santander to the east. Also found in large parts of Europe. A protected species under the Berne Convention.
Lataste’s viper (Vipera latastei) – found from around the southern border of Cantabria southwards, likes a warmer/drier climate. I’ve seen this species near Burgos. A rare species and listed as Vulnerable (VU) by the IUCN in 2008 (needs updating!) and is a strictly protected species under the Berne Convention.
Seoane’s viper (Vipera seoanei) – Almost endemic to the Iberian peninsula, with just a tiny corner in SW France. The range is basically the Cantabrian mountains and Galicia. Listed as Least Concern (LC) by the IUCN (also here, update required!) and is a protected species under the Berne Convention.

All three vipers are poisonous and so require medical attention if you are bitten. The only other poisonous snake in the region is the Western Montpellier snake (Malpolon monspessulanus – similar range to Lataste’s viper). When you spot a snake in the wild, you’ll know it is a viper (and so more or less if it is poisonous) by looking at the eyes, where non-vipers (for the most part) have round, black pupils and vipers have black vertical slits as pupils (like those of a cat), see Fig. 1. Something to take into consideration when doing your risk assessment …

An image of a female Vipera seoanei. — **Fig. 1** – *Vipera seoanei* (female), Cabezón de la Sal, Cantabria, Spain. 24.ix.17. 30TVN09. Notice the verticle black slit shape of the pupil and also the size of the leaves and grasses around her to get a reasonale size estimate.

Seoane’s Viper

So, I’ve seen Seoane’s viper several times, one of them being in El Minchón, one of the Local Hotspots I recently highlighted. When you see one, if you remain fairly quiet, you can watch it for quite a long time. You can often spot them, curled up, just along the edges of brambles or gorse, in sunny spots at the edges of fields or openings in the woods. There is quite some variety in the colours of the pattern they have with some, even being quite monotone in colour (blackish brown). The was the case for the one I saw in El Minchón, which was a bit strange, as I was told by a reptile expert, because those colour variants are usually found at higher altitudes in the mountains.

They mainly feed on small mammals, and probably also lizards and larger grasshoppers. So usually, if I spot a few larger lizards in the undergrowth (like Lacerta bilineata), I’ll walk on a bit, as I’m sure they wouldn’t be out and about with a viper lying around.

Before I round off … they are not big, maybe around 50 cm (20 inches) in length. They can be bigger (up to 75 cm – 30 inches), but when you go looking for them do not expect to see a massive snake. What also makes them look smaller is when they are curled up, they are quite compact. You can compare the size of the snake in the picture (Fig. 1) with the size of the leaves around her (yes, I was told this is a female). The big snakes in this region are the non-poisonous ones like Natrix astreptophora (Iberian grass snake), which can grow up to 2 meters.

Conclusion

For a nature enthusiast, these kinds of species are always interesting, and that is because you can only really find it in a limited area in Europe. It is this kind of species that will provide a tingling sensation to someone who’s keen on snakes/nature and it will be a cornerstone for a spring/summer vacation trip planned during the cold winter months. There is a whole segment of the tourism industry built on birding or nature trips and I’m sure the guide will be over the moon when they can show their clients a species like this … something unique and which they probably cannot see at home.

RAm Report – Red Cambera – Monitoring Amphibians in Saja-Besaya – 16.04.16

April 23, 2016 bartvanhoofAlytes obstetricans, amphibians, Cantabria, Lissotriton helveticus, Rana temporaria, Red Cambera, Saja-Besaya, SpainLeave a comment

Introduction
Volunteer work is fun and especially when you can go out an learn new things from experts! I’d seen various notices from an organisation during 2015 that looked interesting to me. The idea was to go out and monitor amphibians and their habitat. The organisation is called Red Cambera and, convieniently, is based in a village near where I live. Many of their activities are centered around the Saja-Besaya Natural Park. Now, I’m not actually sure if it is a provincial park, it isn’t one on national level, but I do not know how Spain orgainises the various levels (e.g. national, provincial, regional etc.). Anyway, it is the largest park here in Cantabria.

Saja-Besaya (named after two rivers, the Saja River runs through the village I live) is a park but not an untouchable piece of wilderness. One of the main things that is done in the park is maintaining livestock (mostly horses and cattle). These are led into the hills in spring and brought back down in autumn. Basically the livestock can roam freely. When driving around you often come across cows in the middle of the road for example. This means that in a sense the landscape is man-managed, but it has been so for hundreds of years.
There is ample space for fauna with wolves and bears being the those at the top of the food chain. However, there are all sorts of small mammals, from river otters to stoats etc. The bird life is also quite diverse, key species being various woodpeckers, vultures, ravens etc.

Saja-Besaya Natural Park – 16.04.16
So, Red Cambera has various activities, one of which is monitoring amphibians in the park. The organisation has installed ramps (in & out) into various drinking troughs throughout the park (for the free roaming livestock). Over the past 3-4 years they have been monitoring amphibian activity in these troughs in spring and autumn. They visit the troughs numerous times during each season to see how the situation is developing.
The day that I went was the second time out this spring, 2 weeks earlier I’d been kept at home due to ill kids. There will be two more dates, one late May and one early June, hopefully I can make one of the two.

We met up in the morning in the main village in the region (Cabezón de la Sal) and split in to two groups. Each would go by car and take a different route towards a ermita (little church on top of one of the hills) where we would have lunch.

The group I was split into was to take the high route. There were three volunteers (me included) and two people from the organisation piled into a little 4WD. This type of car was needed, as we’d mostly be driving on rugged dirt tracks (permit required to drive them). We headed off in the rain …
Up we went into the hills, we had to go all the way up to the Puerto de Palombera (1200m – the highest point in the park is around 2000m) … we turned onto the first dirt track just after the pass with full expectations. We’d passed plenty of drinking troughs already, but none had been adjusted by the organisation. After 3-4 turns up we ran into a big bank of snow, completely blocking the track. There was no way around it and no possibility of removing the snow (would cause the snow from higher up to tumble down). We had to turn around and go a different route, but it meant we’d have to skip 3 (of the 6 for our route) troughs! The other route had 9 in total. Two weeks prior there had been even more snow, but there was hope that it would all be gone.

So back down the hills we went, this time turning in to Barcena Mayor. Just past the village on a dirt track was our first trough … there were plenty of tadpoles swimming about and it soon became clear that they were two distinct species: Rana temporaria (Common Frog) and Alytes obstetricans (Midwife Toad). After a little searching we saw 3 Lissotriton helveticus (Palmate Newt), 2 males and one female. Not bad for our first trough (still in the rain).

Our second and third trough were less exciting, well, there were only Rana temporaria tadpoles in the second and we couldn’t spot anything in the third. However, the third was near the ermita and there were little streams coming out of the ground there and they were filled to the brim with more Common Frog tadpoles.
The other group had come up through Ucieda and they’d also spotted an Ichthyosaura alpestris (Alpine Newt). This is the route we’d take back, but we didn’t stop to have a look at those newts, it is close by my house so maybe I’ll go by myself in the near future.
Overall the result had been good for the time of year (and water temperatures). The organisation was pleased with what we had seen.

The sun came out as we started munching away at some sandwiches provided by the oraganisation. It had been a great morning, I had learnt a lot and seen a new species (Rana temporaria).

I’d love to go again and see how the locations develop. Joining some of their other projects may be a tad difficult at the moment (due to the kids), but we’ll see …
As this is a fairly new project for the organisation they’re also seeing how they can do more things with amphibians in the future. One option would be for volunteers to go by set points on a regular basis and monitor developments there … hmm, similar to Projecto Lepides and I’d sure be up for it (there’s a drinking trough here in Casar filled with amphibians in the spring).
Furthermore, they are working on a book on amphibians for Cantabria … cannot wait till that is complete and to buy it!

Summary
– Lissotriton helveticus.
– Rana temporaria (larva only).
– Alytes obstetricans (larva only).

Species year total — 4 (2015 – 5).

Further Reading
– Red Cambera web site (in Spanish).
– A couple of links to information about the park, here and here (both in Spanish).
– My sightings for the trip Observation.org.

Searching for Cullum's Bee

Biodiversity of Cantabria

amphibians