The Brecknock and Radnorshire Amphibian and Reptile Group (BRARG) was formed in 2007 as a special interest group for members of the Brecknock and Radnorshire Wildlife Trusts.

This year also saw the launch of the National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme (NARRS) by the Herpetological Conservation Trust

Our group was asked to help with a two year trial comparing the methods for detecting amphibians in various types of pond by the University of Kent (DICE).

The project followed the same formula as the national survey but involved more visits to the chosen ponds and used all methods of detecting amphibian presence to see which method works best: bottle trapping, torching, netting and searching for eggs by hand.

Several sites in Brecknock were chosen including eight ponds situated on Mynydd Illtyd common where on good days we had fantastic views of the Beacons.

The thing I like about doing something like this is that you see a place in a different light when you wouldn't normally be out and about.

Of course you need a license to do anything involving Great Crested Newts because they are a European Protected species and this gave us the opportunity to work with these flamboyant newts under the supervision of David Sewell from Kent University.

By the end of it we were all dab hands at setting bottle traps, handling and identifying newts, toads and frogs.

Each pond had to be surveyed by torch light (torching) at night time, this was quite difficult as the newts often swam away quickly before you could identify them, and in the weedier ponds it was impossible to see anything.

Some of us also returned bleary eyed early the next morning as the bottle traps set up the night before had to be emptied.

I thought this was the fun part as you never knew what you'd find and it was fascinating to see frogs, toads and newts close up.

It was quite a commitment but we organised a rota so that people could do as many visits as they liked.

The results were worth all the effort though; we found four new sites for great crested newt and nearly every site we looked at contained all five species of amphibian.

A new site for water shrew was also found. This survey will be repeated again next year, however much time you have to give, if you are interested in taking part in this survey, or any other of the groups' activities such as toad crossings, reptile surveys, ponds etc. please contact the Brecknock or Radnorshire Wildlife Trust."