A brief update on Crooksbury Common and the work carried out by ARC.

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation will be out on Crooksbury Common in the run up to Christmas.  Work will involve cutting back invasive and pioneer scrub which will be burnt on site, forthcoming dates are:

17th of November 
26th of November 

These are volunteer days and all are welcome so if anyone wants come along and help out or just pop down to have a chat with ARC about their work or Crooksbury, then they are welcome.

Sadly there was no evidence of Natterjack breeding on Crooksbury Common this year,  this does not necessarily mean no breeding took place just that ARC have no evidence.  Only one person reported seeing tadpoles of any kind this year, which was appreciated,  ARC will be monitoring these areas closely next year. 

ARC say it was a fairly wet and cold Natterjack breeding season which is the main limiting factor and they are hopeful next spring will be warmer. They were also slightly concerned with the number of extremely heavy disturbance instances. The toad's ecology and the fragility of the spawn just can't cope with the amount of pressure that was seen.  

With the continued conservation work and communication efforts, ARC are hopeful people will understand the importance of the site and how necessary it is to protect it, not just because it the last Natterjack site in the county but also because it is home to so much rare and wonderful wildlife. 

If anyone is interested in supporting ARC  here is our volunteer sign up page