ARC eNews
February 2020

Welcome to ARC eNews

It has been an eclectic start to year. On one hand we have had reports of frogs spawning and reptiles emerging due to mild temperatures and then on the other we have had storms bringing strong winds, heavy rain and even snow! We have pulled together advice about breeding and spawning behaviour and about the resulting spawn and also answered some of your frequently asked questions about amphibians and spawn in cold weather. ARC staff have also had a busy stat to the year. Read on for updates from new projects, our annual conference and how you can get involved.

Saving Scotland's Snakes 

ARC has secured funding to promote adder conservation in Scotland in 2020 from the R S Macdonald Charitable Trust. We will be providing a number of free events in Scotland in 2020, as part of an education and outreach programme designed to raise awareness of the need for adder conservation. 

Join ARC’s Scottish Officer, Pete Minting for an informative reptile survey walk this spring/summer. Learn about the reptiles of Scotland and techniques for surveying them.

Nattering with a Species Champion

This month we were delighted to host a visit by Damien Moore MP, the Species Champion for the natterjack toad. Damien met ARC staff at our Ainsdale office, and we discussed natterjack toad conservation issues both on the Sefton Coast and nationally, as well as ways for Damien to help with our efforts.

The Species Champion project is run by the Rethink Nature partnership, a group of seven leading wildlife organisations working together to make a difference to species conservation. The aim is for the MPs to raise awareness of their species and the causes of its decline both in Parliament and in their constituencies.  

Toads in Trouble! St Matthew’s School helps save the natterjack

Oak and Apple classes at St Matthew’s School in Hampshire have spent their last term studying the natterjack toad; considering the natterjack’s life-cycle, why it is endangered, the current locations of the natterjack toad in the UK and which habitats are best for toads. They have also been raising awareness in their local community and fundraising for ARC.

A smooth start for Snakes in the Heather

It has been a busy and productive winter for the Snakes in the Heather project. we have been working with our fantastic volunteers and field teams in Dorset and the Weald to manage heathland habitat for the smooth snake.

We've run a Volunteer Taster Day for a local community group and started our wider outreach events, with our school outreach programme starting in the coming weeks

Behind the scenes we are continuing to develop our monitoring programme for the smooth snake, and other reptiles, getting ready for the survey season ahead. 

A newbies view of Herp Workers Meeting 2020

Read about the Herpetofauna  Workers' Meeting 2020 which was held in Southport on 15th and 16th February. 

This year’s conference boasted a pre-conference fieldtrip in the Sefton sand dunes as well as the usual array of informative presentations and workshops, the ever popular Gala Dinner and the return of everyone’s favourite quiz “Have I Got Newts for You”.

A Herpetologists dream 

Join ARC Trustee, Jan Clemons on a thirteen day tour to South Africa in October 2020: herpetology excursions, lectures by professional herpetologists, snake catch, release and conservation work for the endangered leopard toad group and much more.