Toads slow down due to the cold

A TOTAL of 5,800 toads, 600 frogs and 120 smooth newts have been helped by the Henley Toad Patrol so far this year.

Colder weather at the beginning of March meant that migration slowed but mild conditions in February led to nearly 3,000 toads being helped by the group.

The amphibians were picked up by volunteers by a barrier installed along the busy A4155 and carried in buckets over the road to their spawning pond.

Every February to April the toads migrate through Oaken Grove woodland on the Culden Faw Estate to a pond across Marlow Road on the estate’s land near the Henley Business School.

Professor John Sumpter, a biologist and environmental science lecturer, collects and analyses data from the volunteers’ findings throughout the spawning season.

He said: “Toads show extreme site fidelity, meaning that they return, as adults, to spawn in the same pond they left as tiny toadlets a few years earlier.

“The population on the Culden Faw Estate is a very large one, hence it requires a significant operation each year to enable the toads to reach their spawning pond safely, and spawn.”

Amphibians migrate to spawn under darkness, so the volunteers collect the toads in the evenings, and sometimes throughout the night until daylight returns.

Prof Sumpter, who lives in Southend, is a founding members of the group and has helped the creatures across the road since he first moved to the area in 1998.

He said that favourable conditions in February had meant that a large number of toads were collected however colder weather this month had slowed this trend.

He said: “In the mild spell of weather towards the end of February, nearly 3,000 toads were carried across the road by volunteers, with almost half of these collected on just one night.

“The cold spell of weather in early March brought toad migration to a complete halt but it began again once the mild weather returned.

“Even though it has been very dry recently, toads have been on the move each evening, arriving at the barrier throughout the night if the temperature stayed above about 7C. Another 2,800 toads were carried to their spawning pond recently.”

Prof Sumpter said it was hard to predict the migration trends for the rest of the month.

He said: “The first few returning toads have already been helped back across the road in the opposite direction before being released into the woods, where they spend the vast majority of their lives.”