Great crested grebe & toad migration

22 February 2018

Great crested grebe on Arun Riverlife lagoon since last Saturday

On Monday and Tuesday evening the warm and damp weather started the annual mass migration of toads to breeding ponds. Reserve Manager Paul Stevens and team rescued over 200 toads (30 males in this bucket) who were crossing Mill Road and heading for the wetland reservec on Monday night. Paul and volunteers rescued another 20 on Tuesday but the temperature has dipped again temporarily halting the toad march. Toads can travel up to three miles to return to breed where they were spawned. Unfortunately some don’t survive the crossing busy roads. The toads travel at night to avoid being picked off by predators, like crows.

30 (male) toads, some of the 200 toads rescued Monday evening by WWT Arundel.

Recent highlights:

buff-tailed bumblebees
lapwings from Ramsar and Lapwing hide on wet grasslands
Chiffchaffs singing
pair of oystercatchers
16 snipe from the Lapwing hide
11 gadwall from the Scrape hide
Teal in pairs
5 Hawfinch in the Woodland Loop
firecrests near the Scrape and Ramsar hides
kingfishers at Ramsar hide and on the Arun Riverlife lagoon
signs of water voles eating phragmites (reed) shoots along edges of Arun Riverlife lagoon