Toad in the hole (or not)

Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

The UK is rather depauperate in the amphibian department, with only seven native species and a double handful of introductions and established escapees. We've recorded three of the native species in the garden, and don't realistically expect any others – though a surprise Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) is an outside possibility. I've already profiled the Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) and Common Frog (Rana temporaria). The Common Toad (Bufo bufo) is the last of the trio, and it's well-represented in numbers here. I stumbled (almost literally) across this sizable individual yesterday as it crossed one of the paths in front of me. Though it's the same general size and shape as the Common Frog, its warty skin and the bulging parotoid glands on the back of its head help to identify it. It also lacks the frog's distinctive longitudinal skin ridges and dark face patches. Given its size and fairly warm brown colouring, this may be a female; males tend to be smaller and a bit greyer. The parotoid glands and the toad's skin contain a toxin – bufotoxin – that tastes nasty enough to deter most predators. Their tadpoles contain the same toxin, which helps to protect them from the fish that happily gobble down (unprotected) frog tadpoles.

Common Toads are (appropriately enough, given their name) common and widespread across most of the UK, though missing from offshore islands. They're primarily nocturnal, doing most of their hunting after dark. Like all amphibians, they breed in the water, laying eggs in long, jellied strings which are attached to aquatic plants. Adults spend the rest of the year in grassland, gardens, woodland and hedgerows, munching on various invertebrates. Snails and slugs are among their favorite foods, which makes them popular with gardeners. They hibernate during the year's coldest months, either in holes underground or under stones or log piles, venturing back out into the world on the first warm evening of the year. They may emerge as early as mid-February, and can be seen as late as October. Given that their average lifespan is 4 years, and that we're a long way from the busy roads that kill hundreds of thousands of them in the UK each year, we'll hopefully be seeing some of our regulars for many months yet.

  

Princess

Our garden is home to quite a few amphibians, even though we don't have a proper pond; we regularly see frogs and toads worming away into the undergrowth as we work around the property. I found this big one a few weeks ago as we cleared away some of the thistles that had taken over a wild corner of the garden. It made a few half-hearted hops and then froze, probably hoping that I hadn't noticed it. This is a Common Frog (Rana temporaria), easily identified by that big dark patch behind its eye and by the distinctive folds that run down either side of its back. It also lacks the bulging parotoid glands of the Common Toad and looks smoother, without the rough, warty skin of a toad. I'm guessing it's a female, as it was quite large; females can reach 5 inches (13 cm) in length, while males top out at 3.5 inches (9 cm).

Common Frogs are widespread across most of Britain and Ireland, but they need a nearby pond for breeding. I'm guessing our little garbage pail lid "pond" won't do the trick, so they're probably heading off the property. The neighboring farm has a big pond, with lots of vegetation around the edges, only a few hundred yards away and we saw masses of frog spawn there last spring. But we're happy to provide good feeding territory; frogs eat invertebrates, and the garden is full of those. They hunt primarily at night, and we've often stepped out the door after dark and found two or three clustered around the front porch (and the nearby water plant trays), looking for supper. They'll be settling in to hibernate soon, wriggling under a rock or into a compost heap for the winter. I look forward to seeing them again next spring!

Smooth

While clearing some taller grasses from along a planter near the house last evening, Mike discovered this little Smooth Newt huddled under some piled flagstones. It didn't move — never even blinked — during the minutes that we watched and photographed it. This is probably a female; during the breeding season, which runs from February to June, males develop a wavy crest along their backs, and this one showed no sign of that. Though I always think of newts as water creatures, they're often found on land outside of the breeding season, though typically they still haunt damp places (under piles of stones and leaves, for example). They hunt invertebrates, both in the water and on land. This is Britain's most widespread newt, found throughout most of the islands. It's declining in the north and west, however. We've been talking about putting a small pond in, somewhere in the garden. I guess we'd better hurry up with that!