CUMBRIA'S AMPHIBIANS If you like to breed in water but also need to keep your skin moist when on land, what better place could you find to live than Cumbria!! Not surprisingly, all six native species of amphibian thrive in the county. The Common Frog is widespread, even near the tops of mountains at over 800 metres. Spawn (in the familiar large blobs) is usually laid in late February or early March, perhaps later in the colder fell tarns. The Common Toad is a little less hardy, does not venture as high up the fells and prefers deeper water. Its spawn is laid in strings two or three weeks later than frog spawn. The Common Toad is well known for its long distance hikes (in procession) to return to its area of birth and there are many places where this has occurred for generations (let me know if you are aware of any!). Cumbria has two of the largest colonies in England of the Natterjack Toad at Drigg and Sandscale Haws - these form the subject of a separate page ...see NATTERJACK TOADS Newts are possibly under-recorded in the county, as they generally need some searching out. The Great-crested Newt is a protected BAP Priority species that breeds widely in the county. There are many breeding sites in the area between Ambleside and Milnthorpe and along the length of the Eden Valley, with more scattered places found on the north-west coastal plain. Ideally they would like ponds without fish, but increasingly seem to use garden ponds. Between April and late June a search with a torch at nighttime may yield a sighting - but REMEMBER it is illegal to catch them or even disturb them. The smaller (half size) Palmate Newt is possibly the most abundant in the county as it prefers acidic water - and there's plenty of that in the fells! The Smooth Newt is also found in the county, sometimes even in the same water body as the other two newt species!

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