photograph by Greg Morgan
Clicking Stream Frog
11/12/2010 - Susan Wishart reporting back - After all the hard work saving the breeding adults, we now need to turn our attention to the toadlets which should be emerging any time now from the breeding ponds.
Much harder to save than the adults because they are so tiny and hard to see, we can nonetheless take the following steps to try and make sure they find their way to our gardens and verges where they will live. After every rain or when it is cooler, please check your pool, drain, trampoline ditch, and don't mow your lawn until Jan/Feb especially after rain.
from toadnuts website
Western Leopard Toadlet soon after leaving the water and setting off to find a feeding territory. They are very small and most often not seen by humans.
Try mow only at the end of January if you can! Please also alert your neighbours - checking of pools can save literally hundreds of toadlets - don’t forget the pool savers. http://toadnuts.ning.com/video/how-to-fit-your-own-toad-saver
12/10/2010 - Susan Wishart reporting back for the KirMiTS;
Breeding season reports have been submitted to SANBI and it was a fantastic reminder of your commitment being able to submit stats that look like this:
|
Area |
Toad mortalities | Toads rescued | Man hours for rescues |
| Kirstenhof | 37 | 618 | 186.25 |
| Lakeside | 8 | 24 | 28.00 |
| Marina da Gama | 3 | 37 | 34.25 |
| Muizenberg | 10 | 2 | 4.75 |
|
Total |
58 | 681 | 253.25 |
681 toads rescued and
235 man hours (people hours!).
Tadpoles are doing their thing and keeping a low profile - let me know if you see any.
08/10/2010 - Cassy Sheasby reports that this Cape Rain Frog (Breviseps gibbosus) was found last evening at the City of Cape Town, Westlake depot. It is listed as vulnerable in the red data book.
photograph by Cassy Sheasby
The Cape Rain Frog lives under ground for most of the hot summer period and appears above ground in the rainy evenings during the winter months.
photograph by Cassy Sheasby
They are slow moving. Note the eyes are mostly forward facing.
photograph by Susan
Wishart
photograph by Susan Wishart
A
pair of amplectant toads, smaller male on
top.
Eduard Rheeder a UNISA student
from Pretoria helping to move a male
WLT in Lakeside.
See this website for the latest stats and info on the Western Leopard Toad breeding season.
23/08/2010 - Susan Wishart - WLT Node 1 co-ordinator.
We think there will be a second, smaller movement of toads over the next week or so – certainly there were suddenly more toads than ever in Marina on Saturday night.
Please let me know if you still have frozen toads for me to collect. If you can get to Zandvlei Nautre Reserve during the day then you can take them there - 7am to 4pm call 021 701 7542 to make sure they will be there.
Kirstenhof.
Raapkraal area ; Raapkraal, Leeufontein, Bosch-en-Dal, Kronendal, Blaauwklippen, Altenburg, Bloemendal, Oranje, Harmony, Melody, Carlisle.
Valentino area: Waterford, Harding, Sea Breeze, Valentino, Derbyshire, Katie Martin,
Frogmore Estate: Lake, Regent, Easson.
| Week
4.
- - - - |
- | Mon 23 Aug | Tues 24 Aug | Wed 25 Aug | Thur 26 Aug | Fri 27 Aug | Sat 28 Aug | Sun 29 Aug |
| Team 1. Raapkraal area | Jean | Heinz | Ineke | Heinz | Michelle | Stacy | Susan | |
| Susan | Mike | Christina | Mike | Janet | Mark | Jean | ||
| Team 2. Valentino area | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Lakeside.
Rutter, Spinaker, Main, Chenel Way, Orchard, Kerner.
| Week
4.
- - |
- | Mon 23 Aug | Tues 24 Aug | Wed 25 Aug | Thur 26 Aug | Fri 27 Aug | Sat 28 Aug | Sun 29 Aug |
| Team 1. | Sandra | Julie | Glen | Julie | Sandra | Julie | Glen | |
| John | Pam | Andrea | Pam | John | Pam | Andrea |
Marina da Gama.
Battleridge, Eastlake, Cannon Island, Admiral's, Fisherman's Quay, Burgee, Eastlake Island.
| Week
4.
- - |
- | Mon 23 Aug | Tues 24 Aug | Wed 25 Aug | Thur 26 Aug | Fri 27 Aug | Sat 28 Aug | Sun 29 Aug |
| Team 1. | Heidi | Lynne | Carol | Jenny | Eve | Alice | Heidi | |
| Pat C | Peter | Robyn | Martyn | Pat C | Pat | Tristan |
Muizenberg.
Psoralia Park, Sanderling, other busy areas.
| Week
4.
- - |
- | Mon 09 Aug | Tues 10 Aug | Wed 11 Aug | Thur 12 Aug | Fri 13 Aug | Sat 14 Aug | Sun 15 Aug |
| Team 1. | Susan | Susan | Susan | Susan | Adele | Adele | Susan | |
| - | - | - | Moira | Aiden | Aiden | - |
13/08/2010 - Susan Wishart - WLT Node 1 co-ordinator.
The Lakeside KirMiTS team;
Our toads have been really quiet so we are going to put the monitoring on hold as of tonight
Friday 13 Aug.
We will start looking for eggs this weekend. If all the locals can keep an eye open in case of a second move, that would be great.
Thanks for all your help to date, everyone.
26/07/2010 - Susan Wishart - WLT Node 1 co-ordinator.
The latest update for roster duty in your area.
Our toads started moving in earnest on Saturday night 31st July - 46 toads including 2 amplectant pairs!
If
you cannot make it please email me swishart@telkomsa.net
on this address,
and cc to my work address khaye@learntoearn.co.za
or sms or call me on 083 441 4740.
The more people we have available, the fewer nights we all need to do.
24/07/2010 - Susan Wishart - Node 1 co-ordinator.
The toading season is almost upon us and as co-ordinator for Node 1 (Kirstenhof, Marina da Gama, Frogmore Estate, Muizenberg and Lakeside) - still looking for a catchy acronym!
I am tasked with getting the toading roster set up for the period and with ensuring you are all up to speed and happy to help.
We had thought we would have movement from 19 July but we are still waiting…
Please would you all be so kind as to respond to me, by completing the following. If we are quiet in one area (eg. Marina) and you are willing, I might want to allocate you to a nearby area.
| Name. | Total number of days
willing to commit (18h30 - 20h00) - may not use you for all dates. |
Dates (eg 31 July) or days (eg Mondays) not available. | Can we give your cell number to 2 Oceans Aquarium for daily updates? | Updated cell number. | Other relevant info (eg driving only or Marina only). |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
We have some great new donated equipment and lots of info to help us to save as many toads as possible. I will be meeting each team in the evenings, so if you need more info about what to do, no problem. I also want to make sure we don’t duplicate so will be handing out maps to the teams.
We still don’t have enough people, so let me know if you have other contacts. Ideally we need 2 teams of 2 people per night. If you need to be removed from the list or shifted to another area, please advise.
email Susan tel 021 361 5972 (o/h), fax 021 361 5957, cell 083 441 4740
02/07/2010 - 2010 Western Leopard Toad breeding season briefing.
Next week Wednesday 07/07/2010
the Western Leopard Toad Committee will be holding a short, one hour meeting at the
Meadowridge Library at 18h00.
We will be discussing breeding season plans and viewing a fantastic video on the migration of toads in the Noordhoek basin. This is a very important meeting and I urge you to attend, as amongst others we will detail the new structure of our operations for this season.
See the formal invite to the meeting below and I look forward to seeing you there!
Mark Day
Coordinator: Awareness, volunteer & census operations
Western Leopard Toad Conservation Committee.
30/04/2010 - Kirstenhof / Lakeside Leopard Toad volunteers
You are invited to attend a Western Leopard Toad information evening at the Tokai Library on:
30 April 2010 (Friday) from 7 - 8pm or 22 May 2010 (Saturday) from 5 - 6pm.
The purpose of the evenings is to prepare you for what to expect when you are out on the roads helping in the July / August breeding seasons.
-
What to wear,
-
what to do
-
Who to call and other toading tips!
It is short notice for the April date, but let me know if you can make either time - it would be great to have you there.
Susan Wishart.
ph
021 361 5972
email khaye@learntoearn.co.za
Previous years.
| 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
