Birmingham and Black Country Amphibian and Reptile Group (BBCARG)
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About us

About Us

Hi there!

Welcome to the Birmingham and Black Country Amphibian and Reptile Group page, we are a volunteer-led group actively involved in the conservation of native species of amphibian and reptile and their habitats.

We aim to establish and monitor the distribution and status of amphibians and reptiles in the area; conserve reptiles, amphibians and their habitats through surveys and practical work; foster public interest in amphibians and reptiles and their conservation; and develop the skills of those interested in these species.

We are always happy to hear from people in the area about anything to do with reptiles and amphibians, if you are interested in finding out more or getting involved - please get in touch.

 

Reptile and Amphibian Sightings:

If you have been lucky enough to spot some of our reptiles and amphibians, please report a sighting on our 'Record A Sighting' page.

 

2024/25 Committee:

Chairperson - Amber Hopgood

Secretary - Katy Perry

Treasurer - Matt Armes

Records Officer - Amber Hopgood and Shaun Pope

Birmingham Project Officer - Matt Armes

Black Country Project Officer - Chris Dunn

Training & Events Officer - Amber Hopgood 

Website & Social Media Officer - Amber Hopgood 

Re-Elected Committee Members - Charlene Jones, Elsbeth Leighton, and Shaun Pope

Newly Elected Committee Members - Beth Bucknall

News

News

2024/25 Committee

Posted on Saturday 23rd March, 2024

We held our 2024 AGM on the 27th March and welcomed members to hear about what the group has been doing and to elect its 2024/25 committee. Minutes have been emailed to all members, and the election results were as follows:

Role                                   

2023/24 Position                                     

2024/25 Position

Chairperson

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood

Secretary

Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Treasurer

Matt Armes

Matt Armes

Records Officer

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood and Shaun Pope

Birmingham Project Officer

Matt Armes

Matt Armes

Black Country Project Officer

Chris Dunn

Chris Dunn

Training and Events Officer

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood 

Website and Social Media Officer

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood 

Committee Members

Annie Gwilt, Bekie Perry, Charlene Jones, Elsbeth Leighton, Remy St John-Reid, Richard Giedrojc, and Shaun Pope

Beth Bucknall, Charlene Jones, Elsbeth Leighton, and Shaun Pope


2023/24 Committee

Posted on Wednesday 22nd March, 2023

We held our 2023 AGM on Tuesday 7th March and welcomed 15 members to hear about what the group has been doing and to elect its 2023/24 committee. Minutes have been emailed to all members, and the election results were as follows:

Role                                   

2022/23 Position                                     

2023/24 Position

Chairperson

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood

Secretary

Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Treasurer

Matt Armes

Matt Armes

Records Officer

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood and Shaun Pope

Birmingham Project Officer

Matt Armes

Matt Armes

Black Country Project Officer

Chris Dunn

Chris Dunn

Training and Events Officer

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood 

Website and Social Media Officer

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood 

Committee Members

Bekie Perry, Charlene Jones, and Shaun Pope

Annie Gwilt, Bekie Perry, Charlene Jones, Elsbeth Leighton, Remy St John-Reid, Richard Giedrojc, and Shaun Pope

 


Welcoming Our New Committee

Posted on Friday 2nd April, 2021

On the 24th March we had our 2021 virtual AGM, and we are very pleased to announce that we have elected our 2021/22 committee and have welcomed a new committee member to the group, bringing our committee to a total of 9 people. 

Role

2020/21

2021/22

Chairperson

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood

Secretary

Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Treasurer

Hannah Lewis

Matt Armes

Records Officer

Charlene Jones

Natalie Norton

Birmingham Project Officer

Charlene Jones

Matt Armes

Black Country Project Officer

Chris Dunn

Chris Dunn

Training and Events

Paul Wilkinson

Paul Wilkinson

Website and Social Media

Amber Hopgood

Amber Hopgood

Ordinary Committee Member

Shaun Pope

Shaun Pope

Ordinary Committee Member

N/A

Dean Cordelle

Ordinary Committee Member

N/A

Charlene Jones

 


Newsletter

Posted on Sunday 22nd November, 2020

Hello everyone,

On behalf of the BBCARG, I hope that you are all well and getting on okay after this year; it has been a strange one for the group - and probably for many of the groups you interact with – as we have not been able to get out and about doing surveying, habitat management or running and attending events. That said, we are hopeful that next year we will be able to do more and already have a few things in the pipeline to work on and invite you to.

This spring, we did not send out requests for membership renewal as we expected that we would not be able to run events as usual. Something we have been working on since then is our very own ARGWEB platform, which will allow us to manage our members and help you manage your membership with us via a log-in portal. Once we have this set-up and working we will be emailing everyone and posting on here with more information, and if you would like to renew or start a membership with us you will be able to do so then.

Member or not, I hope you enjoy our newsletter put together by the committee. Please note that from next year, only our paying members will be receiving our newsletters and will have better access to events, training and updates from us - so if you would like to stay in the loop make sure to join again when we send out the details. Stay safe, and we hope to see you soon. 

View our November 2020 Newsletter here.


Frog or Toad?

Posted on Monday 24th February, 2020

This time of year everyone gets quite excited about the near arrival of our beloved frogs and toads as they move to ponds and start breeding. Many toad patrols are active and well, helping common toads move safely to their breeding ponds. 

If you have ponds and wetlands near you, or some amphibians have taken up refuge somewhere nearby - it is very useful to be able to understand what it is that you've found so that you can then report your findings to us! The more information we have about our frogs and toads, the better we can act to protect and preserve them.

As a result, we've put together some guidance to help you figure out whether you have fabulous frogs or tremendous toads in your local area. The two species are quite distinct when you know what you're looking for, so hopefully this will help.

 

So what are frogs and toads?

  • Find out about common toads (Bufo bufo) - information page and video. Find out what they sound like here.
  • Find out about common frogs (Rana temporaria) - information page and video. Find out what they sound like here.
  • What do frogs and toads look like? ID Guide.
  • But what about in real life? Photos of frogs and toads.
  • What about spawn? Spawn FAQs can be found here

 

If you do find frogs, toads or spawn near you - make sure you report it via the RecordPool portal on our website - find it under the 'Record A Sighting' tab.

 

Note - We 100% encourage people to get out an about looking for our wonderful amphibians, but care is needed. Make sure you're aware of how to keep them safe from harm, make sure you're up to date on amphibian disease. We do not recommend that anyone handle any animals unless it is absolutely necessary. 


Events

Events

Show Past Events

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Membership and Login

Membership and Login

Adder

If you would like to get involved with the group and its activities, you will need to become a member. Membership costs just £4 a year, and as a member you will:

  • Get updates on our work via social media and email

  • Receive our newsletter

  • Be invited to our courses, surveys and other events, which you can access for free

  • Have access to our ARGWEB platform

  • Help us conserve and monitor our local reptiles and amphibians

  • Learn about our local reptile and amphibian species

  • Be entitled to reduced registration fees at ARG UK and ARC Trust events

 

You can become a member by clicking the PayPal 'Subscribe' button below, which will set up an automatically renewing £4/year subscription to the BBCARG. You can cancel this subscription at any time via your PayPal account, or by emailing us. 

 

 

If you do not have a PayPal account, you can download our membership form (here: docxBBCARG_Volunteer_Membership_form_2019.docx). Once complete please set up a bank transfer using the details provided and email the form to us at bbcarg@gmail.com

 

Past Newsletters:

December 2020 Newsletter

February 2019 Newsletter

 

Member Login 

Welcome to our ARGWEB members portal! Here you will be able to log in to the BBCARGWEB system and manage your membership preferences.

 

Wildlife Advice

Wildlife Advice

Toad amplexus

Unsure what species of amphibian or reptile you have seen?

 

Have a look at these handy guides to help you identify the animal you have seen - you can also get in touch with any queries.

Reptile ID Guide

Amphibian ID Guide

 

More information on reptiles and amphibians

Frogs, toads and spawn  

Newts 

Lizards 

Snakes 

Slow worm

Non-native species 

Reptile and amphibian habitats 

 

Found a sick, injured or dead reptile or amphibian?

Have a look at these handy guides to help you identify what you have seen - you can also get in  touch with any queries. Any and all animals should be reported to Garden Wildlife Health.

Amphibian disease (Chytrid and Ranavirus)

Reptile disease (Snake Fungal Disease)

Amphibian disease precautions

 

You can also find advice on the following topics:

Gardens and ponds

Snakes in gardens 

 

Photo gallery

Photo Gallery

Oct 8, 2019
Oct 8, 2019
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Oct 8, 2019
Oct 8, 2019

Contact us

Contact Us

For further information on the work of BBCARG contact us by email or find us on one of our social media platforms.

We would like to encourage everyone who has an interest in reptiles and amphibians to join our group as a member.

 

 

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N/A
Centre of the Earth, 42 Norman Street, Birmingham, B18 7EP

We also have a YouTube channel we now post educational videos to, click here to visit.

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events will be listed here.

Latest News


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