The Glass Lizard
Last Thursday I went with some friends to visit a place called Madzharevo approximately 10 minutes from the Greek border, to see the Vultures. The scenery in this region of Bulgaria is stunning; it is mountainous and has the Arda River running through it. This area is well known for Vultures, particularly Griffon and Egyptian, as they breed here throughout the summer months.
After spending a few hours taking in the scenery we had spotted around 6 Griffon Vultures and it was nearly time for us to go. On the road out there is a small picnic table made of stone which we paused at to take a last chance to see the Vultures. As we stopped the car we spotted 2 more Griffon Vultures circling above and then these were joined by others and before long there over 14 of the huge birds flying above us, and with a wingspan of approx 8ft, the display they gave us was amazing.
We got back into the car and started on our journey home. As we made our way back up the winding road Martin and I spotted what we first thought was a large snake at the side of the road, Martin stopped the car and I leapt out with my camera at the ready only to see the tail end disappear into the bushes.
Not to be put off too easily I decided to follow it and saw the tail going upwards into a bush. I went around the bush pulling apart the branches trying to glimpse the head, then I spotted it and I was able to take this picture before calling Martin over to see it.
Once home I set about identifying our “snake” only to discover it was not a snake at all but actually a “European legless lizard” known as a Glass Lizard and can reach roughly 4 1/2 ft in length. Like most lizards when caught the tail can break away, in the case of the Glass Lizard the end piece may break into several pieces like glass, in olden days it was believed that the lizard could reassemble itself later on, this is untrue but the tail will eventually grow back.
I plan on a few more trips to Madzharevo this year so will hopefully see more of this incredible creature as well as the Vultures.
