Toad patrols started along Coombe Road on 4 February 2024 and finished on 16 March 2024. A total of 813 toads were found (497 males, 194 females and 122 squashed toads) and most were successfully moved across the road and placed near the pond. There was a significantly lower number of newts migrating, compared to last year. 248 which around 100 less than last year, unfortunately 17 of these were found squashed. A possible explanation of this large variation in numbers compared with previous years is that we had a very mild and wet winter. The migration started over two weeks earlier than previous years. The first few nights it started, saw very heavy rain. We think this trigged a mass migration in the midnight hours, and this may be when large numbers of newts migrated. A local motorist who was driving along the road in the patrol area saw large numbers of toads on the roads at 1.00 am, there were no toad patrols out at this time. We recorded 42 dead toads in the first few days. We will have to patrol a few more seasons to understand why there is a variation in numbers.
