city toads

urban environments often get bad rep from herp experts with the genetic isolation risks often being (rightly)pointed out. along with increased cats, traffic, fencing etc

obviously as a herp lover and city dweller these factors often weigh on my mind when considering the long-term future of "my own" garden amphibians.

how happy i was then to discover 3 varyingly-sized common toads here recently.

from whence they came ive no idea but they certainly werent born in my ponds.

none of my immediate neighbours have pools and there isnt one in the nearby park.

its really encouraging to know that there are other pools/colonies of amphibians that can potentially link up.despite the apparent odds.

combined, all the gardens that back onto/lie adjacent to mine create a fair-sized lump of terrestrial habitat too.
of course not every garden will provide such good purpose-built habitat as mine but then the countryside isnt uniform in its suitability either.

time will tell if amphibian populations here are long term viable or not but at the moment it seems,new colonisation is taking place here by a species previously unrecorded at this site in best part of a decade of monitoring


and im glad about it.

RAUK n roll!

ok, i did see 1 toad last year too.