Spawning toads go slowly

THE annual toad migration in Henley has begun.

Volunteers started collecting the amphibians at the 1km long barrier off Marlow Road to prevent them being run over on Thursday last week.

It was a slow start with five toads and one smooth (common) newt being picked up and carried across the road to spawn in a pond at the Henley Business School at Greenlands.

Professor John Sumpter, a member of the patrol, said numbers would increase as overnight temperatures rose.

He said: “Given that the final number of toads in the last 23 years has ranged between 2,500 and 10,501 movement has hardly started yet.

“This doesn’t surprise me as it is still a little too cool in the evenings and also too dry overall.

“If there is such a thing as an average year, then around 5,800 adult toads will be carried across the road by volunteers, of which about 25 per cent arrive at the barrier in February.

“I’d be more worried if hundreds of toads were already appearing at the barrier.”

The breeding season typically begins when temperatures reach about 7C at dusk and lasts up to eight weeks.

Henley Toad Patrol was formed in 1987 and Prof Sumpter started collecting data in 1999.