Nature features

Toads in a pond - photo by Steve Smith

Moorland fringe ponds and ditches have been full of frog spawn and now the resulting tadpoles have hatched out. February through to April is that time of year when the region’s frogs and toads are suddenly up and about and it’s almost as if they were never away. They provide one of the first signs that spring is in the air with gardens full of croaks and ‘rivit rivit’ noises. The cacophony from my garden ponds in Charnock, Sheffield used to keep the neighbours awake.

Ponds and pond-life always generate a lot of interest and Steve Smith of Sheffield Manor emailed a query: ‘I was walking in Matlock by the river and came across two frogs piggy backing, but are these frogs just mating or is it a parent frog looking after the young? Also if you know, what type of frog are they please?’

Steve’s photo actually shows toads. They are in what is called ‘amplexus’ where the smaller male clings to the back of the larger female. The idea is to be there in the thick of the action when the female gets to the breeding pond and mating begins. The female then releases the eggs in strings in the case of toads, and as a big mass of spawn in the case of frogs and the males release sperm to fertilise them.

New life: spring lambs

Pond life

The consequence of this behaviour can be several males on top of any one female and on top of each other. I had a pond near Matlock full of toads and lots of croaking and bobbing up and down at the surface of the pond and in the surrounding vegetation. It is not unknown for the females to be drowned under the sheer mass of frenzied males.

I had frogs out and about around Norton from late February and one on the front doorstep needing to be guided to safety in the garden pond. It is important to remember just how important our ponds are.

Garden ponds make a massive difference to amphibians, as they do also for many other forms of wildlife; so if you can safely have one at home then please do. However, perhaps even more important is the need to safeguard established ponds in the wider environment and where possible to develop new ones. Frogs and toads are deeply embedded in our culture and in our history and this is both nationally and locally.

Frog Walk

In Sheffield’s Sharrow there’s an old gennel called ‘Frog Walk’ and many people assume that it was so named because of all the frogs which could be found there or close by. But no, I’ve been assured that the real reason was that there used to be the ‘Old Walk’ and Frog Walk was really the new walk. The Old Walk was ‘T’owd Walk’ and so the new walk had to be Frog Walk.

We do now have several species of frogs in Britain, of which one or perhaps two are native and the others introduced. There are two native toads and some introduced ones as well. In Rotherham district there’s a nationally famous colony established of exotic Midwife Toads as documented over many years by Rotherham Museum’s naturalist par excellence Bill Ely. Of course there are also Newts on the move at this time of year and these include specially protected Great Crested or Warty Newts.

Conserving South Yorkshire’s Ponds

You can help to conserve ponds in South Yorkshire. The South Yorkshire Ponds Project is trying to draw together information on our local ponds and they are asking for your help.

Firstly, the project needs help to find the locations of any known ponds, with the exception of garden ponds, in Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley or Doncaster districts. They define ponds as ‘man made or natural water-bodies between 1 square metre and 2 hectares (5 acres) that hold water for at least four months of the year’.

Secondly they want help from local people about any biological records or particularly expert local knowledge that would help them to identify high-quality ponds.

They are especially looking for sites which might potentially be considered ‘Priority Ponds’ as defined in the regional Ponds Habitat Action Plan. They are particularly interested in finding out about:

• Ponds supporting one or more species of high conservation importance, e.g. Biodiversity Action Plan, Red Data Book or Nationally Scarce species.

• Ponds supporting exceptional populations or numbers of key species – e.g. those having an exceptionally diverse flora and / or fauna or meeting the criteria for the selection of specially protected sites.

• Ponds of high ecological quality and nature conservation value, i.e. those approaching what is called a ‘minimally impaired’ condition (normally associated with high water quality)

• Other ponds recognised as important due to being part of a (terrestrial) priority habitat, or because of their age, rarity of type (e.g. oxbows, heathland ponds), or their historical or landscape context.

The project organisers are looking for volunteers who might be willing to visit ponds in their local area (preferably during spring and summer 2009) and carry out a quick assessment of pond condition.

Get involved and have your say

To find out how to take part in the fieldwork, follow the link to the Pond Network website, where you can download a survey form and find out more about the project.

To ask Ian Rotherham a question, email ianonthewildside@ukeconet.co.uk.

Ian Rotherham regularly takes part in BBC Radio Sheffield’s Walk on the Wildside phone-in with Rony Robinson. April’s programme is on Tuesday 28th April between 1.20pm and 2.00pm.

Dr Ian D. Rotherham, writer and broadcaster, directs the Tourism and Environmental Change Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University.