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Posts by Brian:

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Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 02 Feb 2009 Topic: Humane despatch of marsh frog I took part in the Cowden bullfrog control. The advice we got from RSPCA, was to put the frogs in Benzacaine and then destroy the brain tissue. Placing them in a chicken mascerator was suggested - we did not take this up - it smacked too much of whats green and red and goes round and round at 90mph. The benzacaine had to be disolved in acetone, and the frogs did react when placed in the solution - so it did not seem ideal to me. The issue of marsh frogs, say, turning up in mitigation pitfall traps in an area where they are abundant is a tricky one. On Romney Marsh, for instance, there is no point killing the animals as they are abundant in the area and it serves no purpose. The intention of the legislation is presumeably to stop spread of the species, but in such a situation results in the lkilling of individual animals for no significant benefit. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 03 Feb 2009 Topic: Early arrival We had GCN eggs in a pond at New Romney, Kent, on 26 December 2008. They will have had a tough time with the weather since then. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 03 Feb 2009 Topic: Humane despatch of marsh frog Yes, that would be my view for European aliens at an area where they are well established. Bullfrogs would be a different matter...... If in doubt always worth checking id and letting someone know at Froglife or Natural England. Brian39847.294849537 Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 03 Feb 2009 Topic: Early arrival I suspect it has been going on for some time in south Kent . In the past 10 years I have heard of eggs at the same site on 1st January, and 11 years ago I used to get GCN's in the garden of our old property in Hawkhurst in late November/early December. We don't have GCN's in the current garden pond, but smooths regularly start turning up in November - usually males. Ironically, despite the GCN eggs, my impression is that it has been a late season this year. Newts seem to start and finish breeding very early on Romney Marsh, conspicuously earlier than newts further inland in the county but it is not something I have ever set out to quantify. Certainly at Dungeness, in 2005 I had my highest count of GCN's for the year on 29 January! Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 02 Mar 2009 Topic: Natterjacks in Cumbria I'm coming rather late to this discussion. Yes the upland site you refer to is a fascinating one, and whilst it has nothing in common with dune and slatmarsh sites it does have some features in common with the southern heaths, particularly the water bodies which are strongly reminiscent of the sort of bog pools you get at sites like Thursley Common in Surrey (a former natter' site). I have thought for ages that a little more study of this site might help illuminate how natterjacks might have survived on these heathland sites in the past. The site has all three newts as well as common frog and toad. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 02 Mar 2009 Topic: Natterjack toad found kent-sussex border Another post I am coming late to! I am the EN natterjack man that Dave Bird referred to. I don't recall being told by my wife about the Sussex/Kent natterjack record in 2003! Dave, the site in Sussex you referred to (scout camp) may have been Broadstone Warren in Ashdown Forest. it is a centre owned and used by the Scouts. I surveyed the area in the late 1980's and found all five of the widespread amphibians. Common toads were abundant. The site is largely forested in tall pine and looks most un-natterjacky now. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 16 Jun 2009 Topic: HSI for very large ponds I discussed this issue with Dr Lee Brady a year or two back and was told to use the last graph reading of 0.8. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 22 Nov 2009 Topic: Early arrival Kevinb, Roughly speaking is the pond on the south coast, the west coast, or more inland? Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 23 Nov 2009 Topic: Early arrival I guess that rather depends on where you live, and the differences can be quite fine. Even in the same county. October sounds like a good month to me in areas with early breeding. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 23 Nov 2009 Topic: Early arrival There are also problems with survey times as well. At Dungeness one of my best counts in one pair of ponds (180 newts) was made at the end of January about 4 years ago, and newts appear to be declining in numbers and condition from late April onwards, so the mitigation manual guidance on when to survey does not always hold too well there, unless you have an unusually cold winter like 2008/9. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 01 Feb 2010 Topic: Newt traps Over the past two years Barry Kemp and I have been experimenting with a new design of bottle trap that appears to avoid the risk of drowning water shrew. These have been tested in pairs with traditional bottle traps to compare their effectiveness. We have enough data on smooth newt to compare the effectiveness of these traps for this species, but need additional trap data on palmate and great crested newts. If anyone would be willing to test these traps in pairs I will be delighted to hear from you, and will send instructions on what to do. Please contact me at swifteco@swiftecology.co.uk Brian Banks Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 15 May 2010 Topic: Humane despatch of marsh frog Of course the other approach, if you are working in an area where it is likely that you will encounter these animals, and humane despatch is unlikely to affect the population (marsh frogs in Romney Marsh for instance) that you could apply for a licence from Natural England - something I have done this year. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 27 Sep 2010 Topic: Hornets and young lizards I am removing lizards from a development site to a nearby receptor site, and am using roof felt to attract lizards. it is also attracting bush crickets, and hornets are clearly hunting the tiles. I have seen them chasing young lizards too, though no kills as yet. Has anyone witnessed hornets actually taking young lizards before? Brian40448.2906597222 Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 27 Sep 2010 Topic: Hornets and young lizards There were still quite a few lizards, and hornets around today, but I know what you mean. The site is in one of the warmer parts of the country. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 27 Sep 2010 Topic: Hornets and young lizards Rob, hornets are not all sting. What has surprised me is how they eat the animals they have captured. I imagined they would fly back to the nest, but they seem to sit and devour Orthoptera. Perhaps queens trying to get protein. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 27 Sep 2010 Topic: Bullfrogs - WATCH out for them I'm not terribly surprised they went un-noticed to be honest. The county in question has a large number of ponds, and it is pretty easy for animals to escape notice because we tend to visit only a limited part of the country. I would not be surprised if there were more out there given the numbers of animals imported in the 1990's. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts in this topic	Posted: 28 Sep 2010 Topic: Hornets and young lizards That is not quite what I meant. Rather, as well as a fairly powerful sting they have fairly ferocious mandibles! Saw one chase another lizard today, but still no evidence of them actually catching one. It's is the males that do not sting. As a species hornets are actually relatively docile unless you really annoy them. Brian Banks Swift Ecology

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