LITTLE ACRE 80 THE STREET KENNINGTON ASHFORD KENT: REPTILES

Transcription

1 LITTLE ACRE 80 THE STREET KENNINGTON ASHFORD KENT: REPTILES BY MARTIN NEWCOMBE 4 th August 2014 D96. Ashford (TR ) R2 Martin Newcombe Wildlife Management Consultancy

2 Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY 8 APPENDIX 1 SUMMARY RESULTS OF REFUGIUM MONITORING FIGURES 1 LOCATION OF THE SINGLE LIZARD THAT WAS FOUND. 2 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE GARDEN SHOWING THE LACK OF POTENTIAL REPTILE HABITAT. 3 A REFUGIUM IN ONE OF THE BETTER PIECES OF POTENTIAL HABITAT. 80 The Street, Kennington, Kent; reptiles Page 2

3 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This document was compiled in order to report upon a reptile survey of land at Little Acre, 80 The Street, Kennington, Ashford, Kent 1. It is proposed that the site eventually be redeveloped. 1.2 The site consists of a house which was built in 1982, and is of brick construction under a pitched concrete tiled roof. At the rear of the house is a large generally unshaded, hedged garden which is mainly laid to cut lawn without any significant trees but contains a brick built garage and outbuildings, as well as a disused swimming pool, a large koi carp pond and the remains of a few small borders. There is also a small front garden which is laid to mown lawn. The house is located at approximately 60 metres OD in a fairly sheltered position. 1.3 The surrounding area is largely residential, but with a builder s yard on the north west boundary, and forms part of a northern suburb of the town of Ashford. It is located approximately 150 metres from open countryside to the north. 1.4 The property has been assessed for reptiles before and the site was thought to have some potential for common reptiles 2 but a subsequent ecological report 3 which included a reptile survey based on the use of refugia found no evidence of any reptiles. 1.5 Common reptiles such as common lizards 4, slow worms 5 and grass snakes 6 are protected from harm under sections 9(1) and 9(5) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so it is necessary to take account of them prior to the commencement of development, irrespective of any planning considerations. 1 OS / TR approximate location. Grid reference taken from 2 Wildthing 2010a, 2010b. 3 Acta, Zootoca vivipara. 5 Anguis fragilis. 6 Natrix helvetica. 80 The Street, Kennington, Kent; reptiles Page 3

4 2.0 METHODS 2.1 Within the site a total of 20 pieces of bituminized roofing material measuring approximately 0.75 x 0.75 m were placed throughout suitable habitat 7 in the rear garden 8 on Saturday 26 th April 2014, in order to act as refugia of the type described by Gent and Gibson (2003). These were allowed to remain in place untouched for approximately one month so that any animals which were present could find them, and then were individually checked at intervals on seven subsequent occasions, between 22 nd May and 1 st August 2014, during suitable weather conditions. On each occasion a control site 9 which is managed for reptiles on a north facing piece of land was checked to ensure that reptiles were active generally, and no visits were made if animals were not found under refugia on the control site. 2.2 On each occasion, a transect route through the site was also walked slowly and methodically so as to attempt to detect any animals 10 which might be basking, following the method described by English Nature (1994). During this walk the refugia were also turned over and examined for the presence of reptiles. 7 Mainly around the edge of the garden, where there was some less tended vegetation. The lawn of the bulk of the rear garden was too well tended to be of use to reptiles. 8 The front garden was totally unsuitable for reptiles due to its management regime. 9 Located at OS / TR068353, near Aldington, Kent. 10 Particularly common lizards. 80 The Street, Kennington, Kent; reptiles Page 4

5 3.0 RESULTS 3.1 The results 11 are shown in Appendix 1. A total of one adult 12 common lizard was found on site under a piece of carpet whilst the transect was being walked. 3.2 No animals were recorded under the refugia. 11 I.e. number of animals recorded. 12 Thought to be a male. 80 The Street, Kennington, Kent; reptiles Page 5

6 4.0 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 4.1 The methodology of the survey has been used before on other sites, and the number and position of refugia was more than adequate. Placing the refugia around the edge of the site was the only possible option due to the heavily hedged and tree filled surroundings of much of the site and due to the prevalence of cut grass. 4.2 The weather was also suitable, especially since the very hot or rainy parts of the summer of 2014 were avoided. The value of checking the control site prior to a visit was inestimable, as it confirmed that the weather that was prevailing at the time of the survey, in an area close to the survey site but was not necessarily outstanding for reptiles, was suitable for reptiles that were basking. 4.3 Initially it was thought that one or two reptiles would be found and that these, given the gardens prevalent in the area, would be slow worms. However, the overwhelmingly large amount of unsuitable habitat in the survey area and surrounding gardens and the absence of long grass and significant areas of short ruderal vegetation in the survey area, suggested that no reptiles would be present. This was largely borne out by the results of the survey. 4.4 Areas with a mosaic of scrub, tall ruderals and shorter vegetation can often have a very good reptile fauna (Gent and Gibson, 2003; Mortimer et al, 2000), and in this case the site was totally unlike like this in terms of the available habitat; indeed, mown habitats are totally unsuitable for reptiles Allowing for the fact that there was negligible suitable reptile habitat present within the survey site 14, the question ought to be where the single animal that was found came from; even an adult lizard would have to have parent animals somewhere, unless it appeared by some other means such as being dropped by a predatory bird such as kestrel 15, which feeds on reptiles including common lizards 16. Given the nature of the survey site, this now seems to be the only possibility, since there is no habitat within the site 13 Edgar, Foster and Baker, There may be some suitable habitat in small areas of adjacent gardens nearby, such as rockeries or unkempt borders, but these are separated from the survey site by dense shady hedgerows which any animal would have to cross to get to the survey site. 15 Falco tinnunculus. 16 Beebee and Griffiths, 2000; Cramp, The Street, Kennington, Kent; reptiles Page 6

7 where lizards might normally be expected to occur; the possibility of animals coming through dense shrubs from adjacent gardens, although not impossible 17, is remote, unless there was a lot of very suitable lizard habitat nearby, which there is not due to the prevalence of cultivated gardens. In addition, there are few places where reptiles could hibernate as a result of the management of the survey area; for instance, cocksfoot 18 grass tussocks or piles of rubble. Past management of the site may also be a contributory factor, as it is understood that the grassy area have been well maintained for some time, and that, until about 2010, there were larger numbers of trees in the garden which would have shaded the site still more and would have further reduced the potential habitat for reptiles; trees shade the ground and can reduce temperatures significantly 19. The lizard could therefore be one of the last of a tiny, undetectable relict population which has almost died out completely Given the presence of this single reptile there is a requirement for further action to be taken with respect to reptiles, just in case there are other animals present in the garden 21 and because they are protected. When the time comes for development, reptiles will need to be dealt with first. The guidance given under the guidelines 22 may necessitate the erection of a reptile fence 23 and an as yet indeterminate number of subsequent visits for translocation, for which a receptor site will have to be found in advance. Translocation will have to be undertaken at some time during the period of usually April to September inclusive, depending upon weather conditions. The survey site must be maintained as it is in the period before the commencement of development, otherwise conditions can rapidly change as vegetation grows and becomes unkempt, and animals can rapidly increase to recolonise the site in a very short time. Further discussion of general mitigation and procedure is given in English Nature (1994; 2004). 17 The author of this report has found lizards in hedgerows before now, but always within the sunny patches where there was ample vegetation in which the animals could retreat when predators were present. 18 Dactylis glomerata. 19 Personal observation. 20 Other, lesser considerations could be that the lizard was a refugee from a site nearby that did have a small population but that was subject to perturbation during the survey period, or even that it could have been introduced in some way. 21 Which is very unlikely because of the poor nature of the habitat. 22 Herpetofauna Groups of Britain and Ireland, It may not. The purpose of a reptile fence is to prevent animals from coming into a site which is being subjected to translocation so that the vacuum created by removal of animals is not continuously filled and the translocation therefore goes on for a lot longer than without a fence. In this case the nature of the adjacent habitat should, if possible, be checked in detail before work starts in order to more precisely assess the need for a reptile fence. 80 The Street, Kennington, Kent; reptiles Page 7

8 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY Acta Little Acre, 80 The Street, Ashford, Kent, TN24 9HS. Ecology report. Unpublished report. Beebee, T., and Griffiths R Amphibians and reptiles. London, Collins New Naturalist no. 87. Cramp, S. (Ed.) Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Vol. 2. Hawks to bustards. Oxford University Press. Edgar P., Foster J. and Baker J Reptile habitat management handbook. Bournemouth, Amphibian and reptile conservation. English Nature Species conservation handbook. Survey and monitoring of reptiles. Peterborough, English Nature. English Nature Reptiles: guidelines for developers. Peterborough, English Nature. Gent T. and Gibson S Herpetofauna Workers' Manual. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Revised reprint. Herpetofauna Groups of Britain and Ireland Evaluating local mitigation / translocation programmes: maintaining best practice and lawful standards. HGBI. advisory notes for Amphibian and Reptile Groups (ARGs.). Halesworth, Suffolk, HGBI. Mortimer S. R., Brown V. K., Fuller R.J., Good J. E. G., Bell S. A., Stevens P. A., Norris D., Bayfield N. and Ward L. K The nature conservation value of scrub. JNCC report no Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Wildthing. 2010a. Full scoping survey. Little Acre, 80 The Street, Ashford, Kent. Unpublished report, January Wildthing. 2010b. Full scoping survey. Little Acre, 80 The Street, Ashford, Kent. Unpublished report, December The Street, Kennington, Kent; reptiles Page 8

9 JUVENILE GRASS SNAKES ADULT GRASS SNAKES JUVENILE SLOW WORMS ADULT SLOW WORMS JUVENILE LIZARDS ADULT LIZARDS WEATHER SUMMARY TIME (24 Hour clock) AIR TEMP (degrees Celsius) APPROX. DATE APPENDIX 1 : SUMMARY RESULTS OF REFUGIUM MONITORING TRAPS: TOTAL LIZARDS TOTAL SLOW - WORMS TOTAL GRASS SNAKES TOTAL ALL REPTILES Sunny intervals and scattered showers and cloud % sun, warm % sun, warm Sunny, some cloud % cloud, dry % cloud, dry % sun, war, dry TOTALS: MEAN:

10 N Figure 1: LOCATION OF THE SINGLE LIZARD THAT WAS FOUND. (Location shown by purple circle) 80 The Street, Kennington, Kent; reptiles Page 10

11 Figure 2: A GENERAL VIEW OF THE GARDEN SHOWING THE LACK OF POTENTIAL REPTILE HABITAT. Figure 3: A REFUGIUM IN ONE OF THE BETTER PIECES OF POTENTIAL HABITAT.