# Malta pt1



## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

Following a forum suggestion my girlfriend and I decided to spend our spring herping trip on Malta. 
*Saturday 9th April*
We arrived on a clear but rather windy morning at 10:00 and drove north to Bugibba which was to be our base for the week, our rooms were not ready and so we went for a walk to Qawra point, a small island a few feet from the shore. We hoped to see some Maltese wall lizards _Podarcis filolensis_ here but easily saw 20 or so on our short walk. We crossed to the island but saw only a few on there which surprised me.








































After a lunch at a seafront cafe where we saw more Wall lizards we headed back to the hotel to sort out our room. On the way back I looked over a fence and saw a snake which must have been a juvenile Western whip snake _Hierophis __gemonensis_, instead of taking a picture I tried to catch it and it of course escaped.
*Sunday 10th*
An early start and back to the beach looking for that snake. We first checked some waste ground finding Ocellated skinks _Chalcides ocellatus_ ,a few Wall lizards and a colony of Moorish Geckos _Tarentola mauritanica_ which were living on a block wall between houses.








We then drove to the other side of town and checked out a rough bank by some gardens seeing 2 Western Whip snakes that I was not quick enough to either catch or photograph. Turning stones gave us more Ocellated skinks and so we turned our attention to some nearby bushes finding one of the objects of our trip, our first ever Chameleon _Chamaeleo chamaeleon_.We took some photographs and released it back into the bush and headed off for a beer to celebrate.








Leaving here we headed for a location very kindly given to us and a smile spread across my face as I recognised from a trip report that I had previously read.We quickly found a few Painted frogs _Discoglossus pictus_ and so added another new species to our list.
























Feeling very happy we drove to another location at Mellieha on the coast, it was very hot so we stopped for lunch and let the afternoon cool down.We then walked to some waste ground where we once again found Ocellated skinks and to my girlfriends delight, another Chameleon!








Photographs were taken and we took great pleasure in watching it climb back into the bush reaching out for branches with their gripping hands/feet.
An evening trip was undertaken with the hope of finding a Cat snake _telescopus fallax_ lying on one of the lesser used roads but this proved to be unsuccessful. As we passed a wall I noticed some drainage holes in its face and by shining a torch into it we saw 6 Turkish Geckos _Hemidactylus turcicus_ which put todays total to 7 species.








*Monday 11th*
A quick stop to see the local Moorish geckos and then on to Cirkewwa to catch the ferry to the island of Gozo. I had seen a few ponds on Google earth and then had one mentioned as a location for the Levant frog _Pelophylax bedriagae_ which would be another new species for me.We could hear the frogs calling as we neared the pond and by slowly moving the vegetation to one side we saw our first Levant frog .








We drove across the island and visited Dwerja bay, home of Fungus rock and a subspecies of Maltese wall lizard _P.f.generalensis_, Fungus rock is a large rock in the bay upon which a fungus grows that was claimed to have healing powers. How anyone got onto the rock to find either the fungus or the lizards is beyond me.








Dwerja bay also has the Turquoise window, an arch over the sea.








Looking around this area just gave us Wall lizards and Skinks, a situation that was to repeat itself throughout the holiday.








Driving back to the ferry we stopped at another pond finding some Painted frogs however when we returned to the hire car we found it would not start. The day ended with us being towed onto the fery and then collected by another tow truck in Malta to take us back to our hotel.
*Tuesday 12 th*
As we had to wait for a new car we decided to have an easy day and so asked the hotel receptionist to pinpoint some local lakes on the map for us. This was to be our fist stop followed by avisit to San Anton gardens in Addatt to see some terapins. The route to the lakes brought another smile to my face as once again I recognised a scene from a field report, a stop here produced Moorish geckos, Painted frogs,Ocellated skinks and Wall lizards
















A stop at the lake area produced the same species but sadly no snakes. The next stop was the gardens, home to the Maltese President and several terrapins, Yellow bellied and Red eared (I think)


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## snakewhisperer (Nov 13, 2009)

Absolutely fantastic Kev! Want to get away myself now!!
Amazing shots!


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## madzombieguy (Jul 27, 2007)

Very familiar with Malta.

Have you check out Gozo yet? There are some nice areas for herping there.
Also, keep your eyes open for Scorpions by the blue grotto


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## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

Ha ha, have you read the report yet? We spent Monday on Gozo, strange that more people have read part 1 than part 2, not enough Royal pythons and morphs I guess:whistling2:


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## madzombieguy (Jul 27, 2007)

Haha, my bad. But you're probably right.
I only clicked the link because I read the word 'Malta'.
We used to see lots of dead chams around Qawra 
Naxxar has a good spot.


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