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THE COMMON TOAD (Bufo bufo).
The South West of the County seems to be the
toads strongest area, Epping Forest especially
but records come in from the London area as far
into the town as Dalston E8 where the writer saw
40 adult toads of various sizes, in 1978,
evidently imprisoned in a walled-in garden.
Wanstead and Woodford produce numerous records
of small groups of toads spawning in garden ponds.
Toad spawn was reported at Hadleigh near Southend
by Mr John Dobson in April 1981. One adult toad
in a garden pond in Colchester was reported by
Colchester Museum in March 1981.
SMOOTH OR COMMON NEWT (Triturus vulgaris)
Philip Pearce and Charles Collins reported
catching 31 smooth newts at Bradwell on Sea
disused sewage works in April 1981. John
Dobson's report in May 1981 included several
newts seen at Rayleigh Mount. A number of other
records are on hand but some doubt exists as to
the exact identification of the species. Mr
Cloutman again records Common Newts breeding
in his garden pond in Prospect Road, Woodford
Green. Common Newts frequently occur in Epping
Forest ponds and appear well distributed in that
area .
PALMATE NEWT (Triturus helveticus) .
Records are still scarce, due no doubt to
difficulty in identification especially of the
females. This was the dominant species in
Epping Forest Earls Path Pond when dipping
in April 1981 (see earlier report) when 12
adults were recorded.