KRAG/BTCV Pond Wardens GCN Training Day


Yesterday I ran a course for BTCV that aimed to train pond wardens in the subtle art of surveying for great crested newt. The course was largely organised by Mike Philips but I reserve a big thank you to Ginny for facilitating on the day (and conducting a recce on the target pond so that we didn't get completely lost!). Sue is running a similar course today.

Attendance was excellent with 18 people and we were able to discuss what constitutes good amphibian habitat and the best ways of surveying for crested newt. Our target pond was something of a trek, but well worth the effort. After examining the pond habitat we collected data that allowed a 'habitat suitability index' to be calculated. This index was developed by Rob Oldham and colleagues and is detailed in a paper published by the British Herpetological Society. After some debate we calculated a HSI of 0.81. This indicates that the probability of the pond supporting crested newt is 'excellent'. That evening we revisited the pond and recorded 3 adult male crested newts (along with 2 small species females). If the pond is surveyed during peak season I'm sure that the results will be very interesting.

Thanks to everyone who attended and helped to make the day a great success.

Posted: Sun - March 7, 2004 at 12:07 pm        

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