I have great news to report! The Ponds for Puddocks/ Tayside Ponds Project that we have been working on with Tayside Biodiversity over the past few years has got through to the finals of the Community category in the Nature Of Scotland Awards. We attended the awards last year after the Saving our Swifts project got through to the finals and won the Highly Commended community initiative award. It was all very exciting!
The winners in this category are decided by a public vote so please have a look at the entrants here on the RSPB page and decide which one you would like to vote for. They are all wonderful entrants so it may be a hard choice! We are obviously biased that Ponds for Puddocks deserves as much recognition as possible to help us secure more funding to keep conserving amphibians (and other wildlife) and rescuing them from horrible deaths in gullypots.
In fact, I visited the remaining gullypots without amphibian ladders in the village this morning and was lucky to get there just in time to save 2 toads. One was lying on its side in the water and the other one was upside down so I presumed they were both dead. I used the net to get them out to discover, to my great delight, that the large toad on its side was still alive, though the upside down one remained upside down once I tipped it out of the net. I rescued two more small toads and then lifted up the ‘dead’ one to warm it up in my hand and blow on it (I probably misguidedly think the Oxygen might help them if they are close to drowning). It moved a little bit and then raised one of its front legs to wipe its eye. I was so pleased!
I brought them all home and put them next to the hibernaculum where I hope they will stay for the winter and successfully hibernate. Here are those (hopefully) happy toads!
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