Toads start migration in milder weather - Henley Standard

MORE than 700 toads were helped by the Henley Toad Patrol in the past week.

The annual migration has begun following weeks of cold weather, which meant there had been very little movement.

Volunteers collected the amphibians at the temporary barrier they installed last month and carried them across the Marlow road in buckets to avoid them being run over before being released into their spawning pond on the Culden Faw Estate.

The busiest night so far was Friday when 10 volunteers collected 549 toads as well a few frogs and a few smooth (common) newts.

Professor John Sumpter, a volunteer who collects the data, said: "The reason behind the mass movement that night was the weather. It was mild and it rained a little throughout the night.

"As it stayed mild and damp, toads were on the move the whole night. This meant that about two thirds of the toads were collected by the volunteers before the last one went home around midnight, with the remaining third being collected in the early morning, just as it was getting light.

"Those toads were waiting patiently at the temporary barrier for a volunteer to help them cross the road.

"Depending on whether or not toads have good memories, some of those toads might well have remembered that they were given a helping hand the previous year.

"Most other nights in the week were dry, even if sometimes quite mild, conditions less favourable for amphibian movement.

"Most of the toads being collected at the moment are what are termed single males. Male toads are usually on the move earlier in the spawning season than the females. Presumably they want to be in the spawning pond to welcome the females when they arrive a few weeks later.

"A significantly smaller number of females are currently being collected by the volunteers, many of which have already paired up with a male before reaching the spawning pond.

"It is early days in the annual spawning migration of the toads and hence it is impossible to know, or even guess, how many toads will make the spawning migration this year.

"A spell of mild, wet weather is needed to encourage the local amphibians, of which there are many distinct populations of varying size, to head for their spawning ponds.

"Fortunately, an enthusiastic and sizeable group of volunteers, including both old hands and others new to the job, are ready, torches and high visibility jackets at the ready, to help this large, and very important, toad population continue to thrive."