Great to welcome Grace to their first session this evening. Sorry we were not toadly successful! We also had Lucy and Duncan join us all the way from Portsmouth for their first toad patrol. We were optimistic despite the lack of rain, but also went ready for litter picking as expected a quiet night. A lot of the toads seem to have moved back to the woods already so the season is almost over for patrolling. We didn't spot any live toads, but found one dead one. We managed to collect one whole bag of recycling, one of other litter, and a few glass bottles too. I got very excited thinking I had found a rare magical pink newt...the unicorn of the newt world surely?! Alas it turned out to be a discarded rubber toy!

We have had a great few nights learning the ropes at the Colden Common and Wellow patrols this season. We might be able to squeeze another patrol in before the month is out if conditions are right, but otherwise we are really looking forward to next season. So make sure you sign up ready for next January if you want to get involved!

Had a great time raking dead leaves with FoSOC

We were back at the farm this evening for more lifting and shifting and log chopping and burning!

We moved lots of pallets and gates from the top of the farm to the bottom and then chopped lots of wood to be burnt down and turned into ash to help the crops.

We had lots of fantastic new faces getting stuck in and helping out, it's always nice to see new people!

We kept ourselves nice and warm around the fire too!

Unfortunately not all of the photos will upload 🙁 but here are the ones which will!

Tonight Lucy and I set off to see if we could deliver approximately 80 leaflets in 20 minutes. It started out feeling like we would never get through them all quick enough, but it wasn't long before we were down to the last few and with time to spare. We hope this will encourage some more people to participate in the Southampton marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k races coming up in May and raise money for a local charity that supports disabled children and young people.

Great to have Lauren and Mitchell join us for their first Wellow Toad Patrol. We set off just before it got dark and didn't find any toads to start with. Sadly when walking back towards the main crossing section we found 2 deads toads. All the toads found seemed to be heading back off to the woods and away from the breeding ponds now. My first save was a female with a male on her back. They were very close to being squished by a car! Kim, the patrol lead, had actually already saved them once and put them back towards the breeding ponds, but they were obviously determined they were back off to the woods. After this we didn't spot any more toads for a while and Lauren and Mitchel unfortunately had to leave before the rush started. At one point I found 3 toads, with the third one again being a very near miss. I had to run to save the little fella! It was nerve-racking stuff. You can look for ages and see nothing and then suddenly spot them on the road edge or half way across. There was a bit more rain which brought even more toads out. It was actually hard to leave as I kept finding them as I went back up the lane! In total I rescued 12 toads. I think 7 females and 5 males. I need to work on my toad IDing! The total successfully crossed over tonight was 38 toads and one froglet. That increased the success rate to 41% which is up from 33%. Sadly 14 dead toads were found which goes to show how important the patrols are as many more could have been lost. This was the second busiest night for the Wellow Toad Patrol.

We enjoyed looking at the water themed art, eating cake and singing and dancing to the Southampton Ukulele band. That got us nicely warmed up to help pack away the event. We carried boxes downstairs, put the tables and chairs back into storage, and swept the floor (with the most unhelpful mop/broom thing!). It was a great event full of smiles. We can't wait for next year!