The Brede Valley

AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES

During warm, still nights in the spring and early summer, the valley is filled with a cacophony of chorusing marsh frogs, their sound bubbling from every ditch. The noise is produced by the inflation of air sacs in their cheeks and is startlingly loud. They compete with the sheep, lapwings and occasional train to keep the local residents awake on warm summer nights. On sunny days in the summer hundreds of marsh frogs bask on the banks of ditches, performing spectacular leaping displays when disturbed by passers-by. This species is not native to the UK, being introduced from the continent to a pond in Stone in Oxney in 1932. Since then they have spread to all corners of Romney Marsh and other parts of south east England. It is possible that the species is suppressing populations of other amphibian species, but common toads and frogs are still found in the valley in good numbers.

Surveys have revealed an abundant population of palmate newts in the ditches, as well as a number of smooth newts. The rarer great crested newt is much larger than the other two species, reaching over 15cm in length when adult. Their fiery orange bellies and primordial look give them the appearance of small dragons. They prefer to breed in isolated ponds free from fish, which predate their eggs. Many of the ponds away from the valley floor, particularly those on the clay-capping of the Icklesham and Udimore ridges, support great crested newt populations. The species and its habitats are specially protected under European law for two reasons: it has a restricted global range concentrated in north-west Europe including Britain, and along with its pond habitats, it has declined in the face of development and agricultural changes.

Three of the six species of British reptiles are found in the Brede Valley. Grass snakes are common, preying on the plentiful supply of frogs and small birds. Common lizards rely on strong, linear corridors of overgrown habitat to disperse and colonise new areas; so they are often seen along the railway, which provides them with just what they need, but seldom on sheep-grazed pastures. The orchards, woodland edges and scrub of the ridges support additional lizard populations. Slow worms are found in scattered gardens and hedgerows, mostly on the ridges.

All British amphibians and reptiles hibernate during the winter. They need piles of decaying vegetation or subterranean cracks and fissures and abandoned mammal holes in which to access relatively warm over-winter temperatures. Grass snakes also use decaying plant matter in which to lay and incubate their eggs, and they can occasionally be seen basking on top of such vegetation piles if approached quietly.