Inspired by Nature: A Poem of Return
Froglife’s Communications & Fundraising Officer, Ashlea Mawby, felt inspired by the work she does here at Froglife and wrote this poem.
Inspired by nature
Inspired By Nature: Ode to Toad by Robert Cox
Inspired by Nature: A Farewell Poem
Inspired by Nature: Frogs and Toads!
Froglife Volunteer and Wildlife Artist, Samantha Marais, has chosen to share her beautiful drawings of the UK’s Frog and Toad species with us.
Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
The Common Frog is easily our most recognisable amphibian. They’re found throughout Britain and Ireland, in almost any habitat where suitable breeding ponds are near by. Common Frogs have smooth skin and long legs for jumping away quickly. Garden ponds are extremely important for common frogs, particularly in urban areas.
Common Toad (Bufo bufo)
The Common Toad is a widespread amphibian found throughout Britain though is absent from Ireland. Common Toads prefer deeper water bodies in which to breed, including fish ponds, farm ponds, reservoirs or village ponds. They have rough, ‘warty’ skin and tend to crawl rather than hop. Common Toads produce a toxin from a pair of glands on their back which makes them distasteful to would-be predators.
Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita)
In Britain, the Natterjack Toad is confined to coastal sand dune systems, coastal grazing marshes and sandy heaths; they’re often associated with shallow, warm ponds in sand dune slacks as they require warmer water in which to breed successfully. Natterjack Toads have shorter legs than Common Toads and are quite quick on land – being known to run rather than walk or hop – but they are poor swimmers.
To find out more about the UK’s native amphibian and reptile species click HERE
OR
If you think you’ve spotted any of these species download the DRAGON FINDER APP and record your sightings.
Inspired by Nature: Peculiar Penguins and Funny Looking Frogs
Book Review: Peculiar Penguins and Funny Looking Frogs
Exploring some of evolution’s stranger choices
Allyson Shepard Bailey has done a really fine job of incorporating her own knowledge as well as combining this with various other intellectuals including professors of biology and senior research scientists to create a book that both sparks initial interest and keeps that interest going throughout.
The processes of evolution are explained accurately and in as simple terms as you can imagine but is still extremely engaging. You don’t even have to know all of the scientific jargon to enjoy this book. Scientific language is rarely used unless absolutely necessary and even then it is explained thoroughly.
Some would perhaps say that this is a patronising way of going about explaining the vast depths of evolution to someone who, like me, only has very basic knowledge. To be entirely honest, the tone in which the book is written isn’t in a way that makes me feel inadequate, it actually feels empowering to realise that actually, I have slightly more knowledge than I thought but I just didn’t know the scientific terms.
In each chapter, she focuses on a set of animals whether that be birds, amphibians or reptiles (among others) and takes you on a journey, step by step, from the very beginning of their evolutionary history to the present day taking you through the stages of their development and adaption and explaining the reasons why these happened.
Allyson’s approach to time scales is revolutionary. She uses months of the year as time periods to help you understand the tangled mess in your head when you’re trying to figure out what came before, Triassic or Jurassic (as well as other time periods) At the end of each chapter, she summarises what creatures have been discussed and also what time periods they appeared as a reminder.
The illustrations by Eleanor Loughlin help to back up each chapter with detailed drawings of some of the prehistoric creatures that are being discussed. They give a real feel of what would have been wandering the earth in those times and it’s very interesting to be able to see the similarities with animals that are alive on earth today.
I am guilty of being biased! I was particularly drawn to the chapter on amphibians “Bent out of Shape” as it explained how amphibians evolved from certain fish and how they developed limbs from living a specialised lifestyle in shallower water. It is amazing to discover that frogs evolved 170million years ago and have been essentially unchanged ever since.
I enjoyed reading this book very much indeed as it fed my interest in the subject of evolution even with me having quite basic a knowledge of it, it still kept me engaged with its simple language and explanations. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the natural world and conservation as it also serves as a reminder that humans are merely a small speck in time compared to the creatures we share our planet with. We need to respect the fact that they were here first!
By Ash Jarvis, Trainee Conservation Youth Worker
Find out more about the book, and purchase it HERE
Toad Art Competition
2017 marks the Year of the Toad here at Froglife!
A recent study by Froglife and our partners from The University of Zurich in Switzerland has shown that on average common toads have declined by 68% over the last 30 years in the UK. In some areas, such as the south east of England, declines have been even more pronounced. These declines have been mirrored in Switzerland. The full paper was published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE (http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0161943).
The data for this study was collected from thousands of Froglife’s volunteers in the UK, who brave the British weather each year, on Toads on Roads patrols, saving amphibians as they migrate to their breeding ponds across busy roads. Toad species are particularly vulnerable to Road deaths, as their defence mechanism isn’t to run or hop away like frogs, it is to stay still and flatten their bodies to make themselves look bigger. They rely on a pair of glands that secrete a toxin to deter any predators (which isn’t too useful for avoiding cars unfortunately!).
It is not clear what has caused numbers of toads to drop so dramatically but likely causes are a combination of changes to farming practices, loss of ponds, an increase in urbanisation and more deaths on roads as traffic values have increased. Climate change could also be a factor as research has shown that milder winters are detrimental for hibernating toads.
Due to this decline, and to celebrate how awesome toads are, we’ve decided to dedicate a whole year to help them. We kick started this campaign with a Toad Art Competition, where we invited our supporters to get creative and submit drawings of toads to us. We had some wonderful pictures sent in to us, and these will feature in our upcoming toad colouring book!
Here are a few of their lovely submissions and some tips on how you can help too:
- Telling others about the issue i.e. talking to friends and family and sharing posts on social media using #YearoftheToad
- Joining or setting up a local Toad Patrol
©Hattie Vail - Donating to our Tuppence a Toad appeal
©Danielle Bagnall - Recording toads on our Dragon Finder App
©Emma Price - Making your garden wildlife friendly to provide safe places for toads to feed and hibernate
©Helen Firminger