Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society

Reptile and Amphibian Report 2002 by Colin Twissell

Only four weeks into 2002 and we had reports of Common Frogs (Rana temporaria) and their spawn: the first signs that spring is not far away. Most sightings were from garden ponds, with 180 frogs and 65-70 clumps of spawn from a garden in Nailsworth being impressive! In one small remaining development-free area of Quedgeley, frogspawn was again observed in large amounts in the boggy areas. Hundreds of newly metamorphosed frogs were seen along the northern shore of Dowdeswell Reservoir in the summer. I was called to a house in Springbank, Cheltenham where hundreds of young frogs had been rescued from a vandalised pond in a council nature reserve close by.

It was reported that the Common Toad (Bufo bufo) was not seen to be as numerous as in previous years at Dowdeswell Reservoir. A large number of toad tadpoles were seen shoaling in a man-made lake in Withington woods and hundreds of toadlets were seen in a wet meadow at Flaxley and at the edge of a ditch towards the foreshore at Frampton on Severn, the latter being stalked by a young Grass Snake (Natrix natrix).

Because the Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) is one of the biodiversity action plan species, the Gloucestershire Amphibian and Reptile Group (GARG), targeted sites in the county where this species has previously been found together with possible new sites. Berkeley School was visited in March: the headmaster was keen to use the school pond as an educational tool, but was concerned that he had Great Crested Newts and required advice on what best to do and was there any funding available. We confirmed the presence of Great Crested Newts and evidence of breeding. There was an added problem; the local amphibians were occupying the school swimming pool in the spring and needed to be removed before the summer months and the water replenished. All this required contact with the Department of the Environment and Rural Affairs, English Nature and an application of a licence.

With a planning application in for chalets/campsite at the northern end of the Cinderford Linear Park; a site where I had found one Great Crested Newt a few years ago and two more being found last year, it was decided to have a concerted effort to establish if the ponds were used for breeding. GARG spent an afternoon and evening in April and were rewarded with finds of adult newts and eggs. All three species of newt were found. Ivan Proctor gave a good review in the “Forester” with a headline, “It’s good newts for Cinderford”. I’m not sure whether the same could be said for those submitting the planning application!

Stonehouse pond was revisited in April; although disheartening to see such a large part of the Great Crested Newts’ terrestrial habitat destroyed by building and the pond isolated from recruitment from other ponds, we had a successful evening. The main pond still supports a breeding population of newts and the lack of vegetation in the flooded disused railway cutting gave good views of over 30 adult Great Crested Newts, mostly males, during a torching survey.

A new site for Great Crested Newts was discovered at Prior’s Mesne. Finding two adult newts and a juvenile would indicate that they breed successfully there, presumably in the nearby lake. One dead Great Crested Newt was found in a swimming pool in Preston. I received one report from a person in Berkeley who said he had Great Crested Newts egg-laying in his pond in November! Whether these female newts were inseminated during the summer and had remained in the pond or whether this was the beginning of the newts 2003 season, was never established. I have certainly seen Great Crested Newts in garden ponds in January.

Because of new building work proposed at St James’ School in Tredworth I was asked to go along to investigate the presence of Great Crested Newts in the school pond and because of this work, the pond needed to be re-sited. No great crested newts were discovered, but the pond supported a good number of Smooth Newts (Triturus vulgaris).

I received 10 records of Grass Snake; one from a member of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT), who lives in Wotton-under-Edge, in response to an article on recording. Here, Grass Snakes had been observed on the garden compost heap and a young Grass Snake seen around the pond. Grass snakes were often seen at Dowdeswell Reservoir. Even a sighting of a Grass Snake at the Bisley Road Cemetery added another reptile to the list for this site.

In July the local papers reported the fact that a 12 year old boy had been bitten by an Adder when obtaining stones from the Bisley Road cemetery for use as goal posts. Fortunately he recovered from his ordeal, but as a result of this, Adders or other serpentine creatures could be persecuted. Adders (Vipera berus) were also seen on several occasions on Cleeve Hill, Leckhampton Hill and Ullenwood.

Aliens in Gloucestershire: I received a report of a dark-coloured terrapin in Adlestrop lake, about a foot long (30cm) with yellow stripes down its neck. This could be the Striped-necked Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa) from Spain and Portugal, or the Red-eared Terrapin (Trachemys scripta) or the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta); the last two having been imported from the USA for the pet trade. I also heard reports on the local radio of two terrapins and which, according to an article in “The Citizen” newspaper are a regular sight on the Sharpness canal at Quedgeley. They use a partially submerged fallen branch on which to bask. They would appear to be the Red-eared Terrapin, but without a telescope it was not possible to see the red patch behind the eye. There have been several sightings of terrapins in Gloucestershire in recent years, but fortunately there has been no evidence of them breeding in the wild.

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