The Round Hill Society

Wildlife on Round Hill 2019

Toads on steps, foxes on roofs, swifts in decline and any hedgehogs at all

by Rob Stephenson

See page 5 of The Round Hill Reporter June 2019.

Our committee member and professional ecologist Kate Wolstenholme has registered the Cat Creep, via Froglife, on the Department of Transport’s Register of Amphibian Migratory Crossings. It seems to be the sole toad crossing site registered in the city of Brighton and Hove, and you can see it at www.froglife.org/what-we-do/toads-on-roads/tormap/

The photo of clasping toads is from the Roundhill Community Facebook page, and was taken by Martin Scolding in early March this year, on the Cat Creep. Here is a less adventurous fox on a shed roof. Meanwhile, a resident of Belton Road recently observed a fox wandering calmly along the roofs of houses in Princes Crescent. Whilst this demonstrates the agility of the beasts it might also sound a warning about leaving upper windows open.

Swifts are only here for 3 months, they fly from sub-Saharan Africa, over 3000 miles in as little as 5 days, and the only time they land is to breed. Sadly modern buildings tend not to have the roof gaps they seek, and pesticides have reduced the number of insects they need (the days of scraping bugs off the windscreen are nearly over). I saw 4 over Round Hill on the 17th May, but was away before that, and the only local nesting hole I recall has been repaired for some years. The RSPB is running a survey in the city and is keen to know of any nest sites.

Finally – has anyone seen a hedgehog on the hill? They used to be here. If anyone has seen one please let us know. It might be worth making some holes in our flint garden walls and solid fences so that the hogs can roam more widely for feeding and breeding.