Written by Paul Arestides, Transforming Lives Trainee
Natterjack Toad
The natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) is very rare and smaller in size compared to our common toad. They are more olive green in colour, with a very distinguishing yellow stripe running along their backs. These toads are mainly nocturnal, so are best seen in the evenings as the sun is setting. It is also a pioneer species, meaning it is one of the first to set up a home in newly formed habitats like young sand dunes. They bury themselves in the warm, loose sand around pools during the day.
Did you know?
The natterjack toad is also known as the ‘running toad’ because they tend to run rather than walk or hop.
Their average lifespan is 10-15 years
Their length can be up to 8cm
Ecology
In springtime you’ll see gathering males in full chorus singing together attempting to attract a female. These calls can be heard up to a mile away! The spawning season is between April and June. Males find a mate and spawn in warm shallow ponds, pools or puddles in dune slacks and sandy heaths. Females lay thousands of eggs in single rows (unlike our common toad that lay them in double rows) along two spawn strings. It only takes six to eight weeks for the spawn to develop in to toadlets with the yellow dorsal stripe clearly visible.
Mainly found in coastal sites across the northwest of England and the Solway Firth in Scotland, they cling on in just a few other places in the sand dunes of East Anglia and heathlands of Surrey and Hampshire.
At this time of year, adults and metamorphosed toadlets spend time building up plenty their reserves in preparation for the winter months ahead. Through winter they will take shelter burying themselves in the mud or sand, under logs and rocks.
Threatened by habitat loss, the natterjack toad has declined massively over the last few decades. As a result of this, it is strictly protected by British and European law which makes it an offence to kill, injure, capture or disturb them; damage or destroy their habitat; or possess them or sell or trade them in any way. This also applies to larval stages and eggs.
Remember, if you spot a natterjack toad or any other amphibians and reptiles (including young and eggs), log your sighting on our free Dragon Finder app.
first time to reach dry land. They will often leave en masse as there’s safety in numbers!
Summer is arriving! As June has the greatest number of daylight hours during the year and is often one of the warmer months, this can be an enticing time for reptiles.
Potentially as early as January in the South East of England, and up to April in other areas of the UK, the common frog will emerge from their winter hideouts and head back to a pond. Male frogs will ‘piggy back’ on their chosen female using their nuptial pads to hold on tightly. This is a process known as ‘amplexus’. He will then fertilise her spawn as she lays it. Common frog eggs are laid in clumps, with up to 2,000 eggs laid in one single clump. Female frogs can lay up to 4,000 eggs over one breeding season.
Common toads will ritually return to the same pond for breeding each year where possible. They take advantage of warmer, damp spring evenings to leave their overwintering sites and return to their specific pond. This behaviour makes them notorious for crossing roads over night and putting themselves at risk of being run over. Our 
Once the warmer weather of spring hits, newts too will venture back to a suitable pond to breed and lay eggs. Males of each newt species will perform elaborate ‘dances’ to attract the attention of females, who will choose which male gets to fertilise their eggs. Newt eggs are laid in a very different way to toads and frogs. A female newt will lay each egg individually, she will lay the egg on the leaf of an aquatic plant and carefully fold the leaf around the egg to protect it, giving the leaf a very straight edge where it has been folded over. Newts lay less eggs than their toad and frog counterparts, but females will still lay hundreds over the season.