Please Drive with Caution

The local Big Frog March is expected to be taking place from Wednesday February 19th on the road by the Little Butts turning on the Burmington/Cherington Road.

Members of the Feldons Wildlife Group will be patrolling the area wearing high viz, with torches and buckets, in order to assist the migration.

Motorists are asked to drive with caution in this area at this time while their march takes place.

See message below from Sue Williams of the Feldons Wildlife Group:

‘Every year in the UK as soon as the temperature rises above 5 degrees centigrade, thousands of our native population of frogs, toads and newts start to move from their over wintering places back to the waters of their birth.

The females will be overloaded with bellies full of eggs ready to mate and spawn and the males are obviously just as anxious to reach the breeding grounds and do their duty!

Often this march involves crossing busy roads, and all over the country at this time, hundreds of volunteers soak themselves to the skin on early spring nights to save these creatures from being squashed under the tyres of cars,  by waving down cars with torches, wearing high viz jackets, and collecting the frogs in buckets to give them a lift across the road. 

You may think “ how can it be that hard to avoid running them over?”  It is not that simple for starters, because they can gather in such numbers that swerving to avoid one puts your tyres on another and small frogs and newts can look just like leaves and twigs on the dark tarmac through a rain splattered windscreen.

Last year England’s 203 registered amphibian rescue groups saved at least 115,000 animals from the roads.

Unfortunately last year the Feldons Wildlife Group heard about our local frog crossing too late to save many of these creatures – but this year we aim to be prepared

The weather forecast is expected to change this week and so from WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19^TH ONWARDS we shall be out with our torches, buckets and high viz jackets ON THE ROAD BY THE LITTLE BUTTS TURNING.

If frogs are on the road we shall hope to flag down motorists and clear a way for cars to drive on, without killing these creatures, whilst collecting them in our buckets and giving them a lift across the road to the pond.

We hope that anyone reading this will spread the news to friends and neighbours to drive with caution on this part of the road for the next few weeks.   There will be signs on the side of the road to warn motoristsof the area we are patrolling.

Finally if anyone in the village would like to volunteer to assist us with these patrols we would be very grateful.  Please phone Sue Williams 01608 686414 for further information.’

Sue Williams

A message from Nick Homes on behalf of the Feldons Wildlife Club concerning the World’s Largest Garden Wildlife Survey this weekend 24 – 26 January:

‘Make a cup of tea, pull up a chair, enjoy one hour gazing into the garden this weekend, and help science at the same time by participating in the world’s largest citizen science project.

This weekend is the annual Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Big Garden Birdwatch. Last year, over 600,000 people made a list of all the birds they saw in their garden, for just one hour over the last weekend in January.

All you need to take part is the ability to tell a great tit from a blackbird, and a bluetit from a robin. Easy! Write down the maximum number of each type of bird that you see at any one time during the hour, then submit your results:

1. Online, via the RSPB website at https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch

2. Please also send your bird count by email to nickpholmes7@gmail.com. We will compile the results into the 2nd Annual Feldon’s Bird Survey.

For more information, check the RSPB website, which has handy bird-identifying and counting guides that you can download and print or view online. If you’re an experienced Watcher, you’ll just need a pen and paper.’

Nick Holmes