As part of a recent project, we were commissioned by Spectrum Ecology assist with surveys to enable some very well-known companies to build a new film studio at Llanilid. Coincidentally, we had undertaken a Phase 1 Habitat Survey on the proposed development site as part of a much larger housing development project a couple of years earlier. On this occasion, we completed a follow-up habitat survey with our Spectrum colleagues and then we completed a reptile survey.
Surprisingly, the reptile population was very low, but our findings enabled us to advise the developer on the best-practice strategy for clearing vegetation and excluding any “stray” reptiles prior to building the new studio, as well as on protecting the large number of amphibians, some of which were priority biodiversity species, that we did discover. Our reports also advised on general precautions to be taken during the work to safeguard wild creatures using the wider area around the new studio location and on where vehicles and materials could be used and positioned to minimise the damage to the areas of developing vegetation that would be left following completion. Planning permission was subsequently granted, and the new studio is now in use.
Other local development projects later led us to assist with Great-crested Newt surveys on the pond adjacent to new studio.
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Reptile Survey
Located on the site of an open-cast coal mine, closed in 1997, the ground within the development site was principally compacted mining spoil. A large man-made pond, fed by a local rainwater drainage system, occupied one corner of the site, and several wet or seasonally wet ditches were located in the lower northern part of the area. Over the last 20 or so years, vegetation cover had developed slowly, now consisting mainly of low ephemeral species with scattered areas of developing scrub and low trees, especially along the banks of the ditches. The area seemed an ideal habitat for reptiles, with hundreds of potential basking sites, exposed to the morning sun, sheltered from the breeze by adjacent low vegetation and scattered through areas of denser plant cover to provide rapid access to shelter if required. In addition, employees had said that “snakes had been seen” around the neighbouring areas in the past, and the Local Ecological Record Checks had revealed sightings of adder and grass snake within 2km of the development site.
However, despite employing more than 120 artificial refugia, spaced within and around the proposed development area, and conducting 11 checks over almost 2 months, no reptiles were found under any of the panels. In addition, we were astonished to find only one sub-adult grass snake, basking in the morning sun, during our series of walk-overs, suggesting that reptile populations were very sparse.
Amphibian Discoveries
Notwithstanding the surprisingly low number of reptiles, our series of walk-over surveys and refugia checks demonstrated that the area was well populated by a wide variety of amphibians, with smooth newts, common frogs and common toads being encountered on all of our visits. On one particular occasion, 80 individuals were found sheltering under 40 different panels, with common toads of all life stages forming the largest portion. Although many were under panels positioned around the wet and occasionally wet ditches which ran across the northern half of the site, significant numbers were also discovered under panels which were many metres from any water body. The refugia panels, especially those along the grassy banks of the pond, also provided convenient shelters and family homes for wood mice, bank voles and common shrews, the presence of which was clearly encouraging regular visits by 2 kestrels often seen hovering over the lusher vegetation.
Great-crested Newt Surveys
In spring of this year, we were invited to return to the site to undertake a new set of surveys as part of a study of Great-crested newts, large numbers of which had been discovered on neighbouring housing-development plots. The study was needed to determine whether additional members of this species could be transferred into the pond area from the adjacent sites and to form the basis for evaluating further development of the studio site. Here, our work included night-time torch surveys, egg searches and the use of bottle traps, positioned at the water’s edge around the pond in the evening and checked for contents early the following morning. These surveys confirmed that adult newts of 3 different species (Great-crested, Palmate and Smooth) occupied the standing water in the large pond and its surrounding ditches. We anticipate continuing this study next year to provide updates on the population size and locations, as part of ongoing development proposals.
JP Ecological Services 