Projects

Promising news for northern pool frog populations

By Emily Jordan - Pool Frog Recovery Project Assistant & John Baker - Pool Frog Recovery Project Manager

Following on from our releases of captive-reared tadpoles in July, the pool frog recovery team has been busy surveying for emerging ‘metamorphs’. A metamorph is a young amphibian that has just completed metamorphosis; it has developed hind and fore-limbs, and has absorbed all or most of its tail. Once the tail is completely absorbed pool frog metamorphs look like miniature versions of the adult frog. The numbers present are an indicator of breeding success in that year.

This August we were able to find a really promising number of pool frog metamorphs at Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Thompson Common, the highest count since they were introduced to this site in 2015! Metamorphs were present at wild-breeding ponds as well as ponds where we had released captive-reared tadpoles, indicating that the frogs multiplied well naturally in addition to receiving a boost from head-starting efforts.

At the initial reintroduction site, in a confidential location, the population is likewise continuing to spawn successfully and we have observed emerging pool frog metamorphs across multiple ponds, some of which were also supplemented with head-started animals. This is great news for both of the populations and hopefully we will continue to see increases in future years.

The Institute of Zoology has carried out regular health examinations of pool frogs (and other amphibians) at both reintroduction sites since the species was reintroduced to England, with the latest examinations conducted during August this year to coincide with metamorph emergence. No significant health or disease problems have been found at either site and the pool frog recovery team and the rest of ARC hopes the results of this year’s examinations will be no different.

Even though northern pool frogs are currently hibernating, project staff have been busy identifying, assessing and visiting potential future reintroduction sites and meeting with landowners and managers. Northern pool frogs are fussy about their habitat so a guide to what they require has been produced to help future potential partners decide whether their sites might be right for the frogs. This is available as a document or brief video clip, both of which can be downloaded from the project web page (below).

Several ponds at the first reintroduction site have been restored. In practice this means that ponds that have become overgrown with vegetation have been opened up, allowing in more sunlight. This will also benefit a range of other species, including all sorts of rare aquatic life that shares ponds with pool frogs.

We have been reviewing the various head-starting (captive rearing and release) methods used for northern pool frogs over the years. Head-starting this year has been particularly successful, producing the greatest quantity, and highest quality, of tadpoles so far. Five hundred and fortytwo tadpoles were released, exceeding our target by over 80%, with tadpoles growing up to 70mm long! We have recently enjoyed hosting an international workshop with experienced amphibian conservation experts from across Europe, to assess methods for increasing the numbers of northern pool frogs in the future.

This project is funded by the Government's Green Recovery Challenge Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm's-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England, the Environment Agency and Forestry Commission.

Above and top right: Pool frog metamorphs © John Baker (ARC).

Full steam ahead for the SitH team!

By Owain Masters - Snakes in the Heather Public Engagement and Education Officer

My goodness the Snakes in the Heather team had a busy summer! With a full summer season, the ability to resume events safely and the huge amounts of people out enjoying our natural spaces, we have been working non-stop on our mission to conserve the smooth snake for future generations.

Our Citizen Science programme is full steam ahead. We delivered reptile survey training across the summer and have trained over 100 people. Some were our project partners who will use the skills to survey for reptiles on their land and share their data with the project. Others are volunteers keen to support wildlife conservation in the UK.

We are enormously grateful to those who have taken part so far and look forward to supporting you over the coming years. We will be running more of these training events next year so keep an eye on the ARC events page on the website from early 2022.

Our Education and Events programme was similarly busy. We have led numerous walks and activity days across the summer and autumn to teach people all about our amazing reptiles and to gain support for their conservation. As part of my outreach work I recently met up with the team from Exotics Keeper magazine (www.exoticskeeper.com) to tell them about the UK's native snake and lizard species, their heathland habitat and ARC's efforts to conserve them. You can watch the finished video here: https://tinyurl.com/exoticskeepersSitH

For now at least, it’s Sssmooth sssnake sssleepy time... To survive the winter here in the UK, reptiles will spend their time hibernating. They will choose a place underground that is dry, frost-free, and safe from predators. Unused mammal burrows are often a favourite retreat, but so too are the stumps of dead or rotten trees and root holes, or even in large grass tussocks. Suitable hibernation sites (known as hibernacula) tend to have a southerly aspect, and are usually in full or partial sun, whilst being on well-drained substrate. There is very little data on actual smooth snake hibernacula so we aren’t completely sure whether they hibernate alone or communally, and whether they group together with other reptile species. It is likely a combination of these, something we hope to find out over the coming years of reptile surveys undertaken as part of the project.

Smooth snakes might be hibernating from November until the spring, but we certainly are not! It’ll be a packed winter for us:

We are getting everything ready for a full-on season next year which will start with reptile survey training, ensuring partner staff and our Citizen Scientists have all the tools and knowledge needed to start the surveys as the reptile emerge.

Our outreach programme is similarly busy. We are running regular volunteer days, some of which will be on weekends to make them accessible to families. See our Events page on the website for further details.

Finally, I’ve been working really hard on the launch of ARC’s children’s story book, ‘In Search of Old Uncle Blue’. The book will be live on our online shop on December 1st and would make a great Christmas present! You can find out more on page 4. For more information on the SitH Project please visit https://www.arc-trust.org/snakes-in-the-heather Photo top left: Reptile survey training © Howard Inns (ARC). Middle right: Owain at Heath Week event © ARC. Bottom left: Sleepy smooth snake © Fred Holmes (ARC). 13