for the 2026 migratory season
I’m pleased I hopped onto Toad Patrol when I did, as although I had missed the very start of the local toad migration, previous years suggested I would have a few weeks ahead of me to hone my amphibian assisting skills. As it was, my trip to France and acquisition of a puppy meant I couldn’t commit to many evenings after my initial forays, but it transpires that my timing was quite advantageous. According to John, our coordinator, the migration finished really early this year, and by the middle of March seemed to have come to an end. This is almost a month earlier than expected, and nobody had many ideas as to why.
It could be that the cold weather put them off, and perhaps the few busy evenings we had moving toads were really busy later on into the night when of course we can’t get any figures. Patrols focus on the busy time for human movement, so 5-8pm when traffic is at its heaviest, and just after sunset is when any toads waiting for the cover of darkness will emerge and head to their breeding pond. Therefore, the numbers we help are only the numbers we observe, and there’s little evidence of any casualties come the morning as the corvids will clean up any remains.
According to John’s records, 2025 recorded 1,981 toads helped. 2026 saw 1,551 helped. Newts were well represented though with a record 15 helped, as well as 2 common frogs. These data get sent to the Froglife national database, helping form an idea of how our amphibians are getting on. We will be meeting at the local pub in the next few weeks, although I don’t know how I’ll recognise anyone as I’ve only ever seen people through squinted eyes thanks to our head torches. I can highly recommend joining a toad patrol, so do check out the Froglife Toads on the Roads page of their website and see if you have one near you.
I think finding like-minded local people is always comforting and helps us feel reassured, especially in times of bad news and geopolitical ridiculousness.
I am now focussing on creating good habitat for the frogs, toads, and newts in the garden. The ponds are full thanks to all the rain, and I’m excited to see who we get in our little watery havens this year. I wonder if we will get frogspawn this year? I’ve not seen any toad spawn but our most established pond is quite vegetated so I’m not sure I’d spot it. I did find a palmate newt in the water bowl we keep by the back door, and I put them near the pond, but they looked quite a youngster. Once the weather warms up I’ll do a post about our ponds. Have you got a pond or seen any spawn yet?
Here are some toads I drew a few weeks ago in my sketchbook, and a frog illustration from last year:
