Tuesday 13 March 2012

Toads mating in East Sussex

Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris
This morning Mark suggested we visit Park Corner Heath near Lewes. This is the woodland owned by Butterfly Conservation who purchased the adjacent woodland, Rowland Wood two years ago. BC Sussex volunteers have been busy the past two winters creating wide rides so that the food plants of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries can flourish and increase the range of both this endangered butterfly and its larger cousin, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
There was cloud cover all day so no butterflies appeared but I saw plenty of wildlife. A buzzard soared overhead and a Tree Creeper posed on a tree. I found a shrew under a piece of corrugated iron, and a female toad between a pair of corrugated sheets. After Mark arrived we saw 7 pairs of toads in amplexus in the large pond in Park Corner Heath, plus toad spawn wrapped around the submerged reeds.
late note: we also saw two roe deer on the edge of Park Corner Heath.
Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris 
Common Shrew, Sorex Arenaeus
Common Buzzard
Common toad, Bufo bufo
Common toad, Bufo bufo
Common toad, Bufo bufo
Common toad, Bufo bufo in Amplexus
Common toad, Bufo bufo in Amplexus - 3 pairs
Common toad, Bufo bufo spawn
Long-tailed tit
lichen covered tree
Nursery Web Spider, Pisaura mirabilis
White-lipped snail, Cepaea hortensis



The rides that have been widened:





Mill Hill:

Adder, Vipera berus
Pheasant
Pheasant in flight
Daffodils
Dog violet, Viola riviniana
These are out on the bottom of the hill.

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