Bits and Pieces.
Sunrise: 07.17 Sunset: 05.30
I walked over to North Pond this evening on a toad hunt, but they hadn’t yet arrived for their annual mating fest. At some point over the next 2 – 3 weeks I expect the pond to be churning with writhing, mating common toads.
Male common toads waiting for the females to arrive (archive image).
Within minutes of arriving home from the marsh I was out again, taking Spike for his evening walk in Hoo Wood. My night-time photography has been pretty uninspiring lately, so I didn’t take my camera. I don’t think I have seen so many tree climbing slugs, woodlice, beetles and snake millipedes crawling over the old oak trees as there were in Hoo Wood tonight – typical! It’s hard for me to walk away from such photo opportunities. I feel compelled to record natural local events, so I used my mobile phone camera.
Tree Climbing Slugs.
I saw more snake millipedes than slugs. Woodlice were most numerous; as the beam of my torch hit them, they immediately dropped to the ground. Woodlice rained on and around me – an usual occurrence in Hoo Wood.
Snake millipedes and woodlice.
The sight of those toads must be quite extraordinary! What sort of time in the evening is best to see this?
I think the best time is two to three hours after sunset, with binoculars and a powerful torch. All the above images were shot using torch light.
Thanks Mike! I shall have to see if I can get to see this at one of our local marsh/wetland areas 🙂
Enjoyed your blog! It put me in the mood to do night walks around the yard when the temperatures finally moderate enough for “things” to be out.
This is excellent! Take your time, walk very slowly and poke about everywhere.
Our weather hasn’t been conducive for outdoor activities. All I’ve been seeing are birds … it won’t be long now and I’ll be out “poking” around.