Derbyshire Amphibian and Reptile Group

About us

About Us

Welcome to Derbyshire Amphibian and Reptile Group we cover the whole of Derbyshire including part of the Peak District National Park.

Our group aims to promote the study and conservation of the amphibians and reptiles of Derbyshire and their habitats. We achieve this by:

raising awareness of the ecology and conservation needs of Derbyshire's amphibians and reptiles
undertaking practical conservation projects
running approximately 20 Toads on Road patrols at locations across the county every spring during the toad migration season
carrying out regular reptile surveys and amphibian surveys
organising amphibian and reptile training sessions for members and the public
providing advice and information and answering queries for the public
developing recording, monitoring and research intitatives
providing a forum for those interested in amphibians and reptiles
working in partnership with other relevant organisations

We hope our website will help you to find the information you are looking for, but if you still have a query, please contact us and we will do our best to help.

Derbyshire ARG always welcome new members to the group, please email us on derbyshirearg@gmail.com to join. There is a membership subscription of £5 per year, though that is reviewed at every AGM..

We are very grateful for any records of amphibians and reptiles in your local area that you can pass to us as it helps in mapping the distribution of species and protecting their known habitats. Either contact us directly or use the Record a sighting tab on this website.

The group is run by a committee which is elected at the AGM each year. For 2024 - 2025 the committee elected at the AGM on 13th January 2024 are:

Chair - Kelvin Lawrence, Vice Chair - Christian Murray-Leslie, Secretary - Chris Monk, Treasurer - Jayne Thompson
Committee members - Garry Dorrell, Richard Fenn Griffin, Chris Hallam, James Longley, Sheila Stubbs and Ben Wyke

Kelvin Lawrence is also the Derbyshire Toad Crossings Co-ordinator for the Group & for Froglife

See a previous newsletters here

January_2021_DARG_newsletter_31.pdf

August_2020_DerbyshireARG_newsletter.pdf

February_2020_DARG_Events_newsletter.pdf

DARG_April_2019_newsletter.pdf

DARG_January_2019_newsletter.pdf

Derbyshire ARG data policy

DARG_data_protection_policy_November_2018.pdf

News

Reptile surveys 2016

Posted on Sunday 20th March, 2016

Dates have been fixed for member's spring visits to sites where we have reptile surveys running this year.

At present one survey is running at Hassop in the Peak District National Park in co-operation with the National Park Ranger Service and another is at a Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve near Cromford.

A smaller survey may be added this spring at another site close to Cromford and further dates announced for later in the year.

Toad Crossing preparations

Posted on Sunday 20th March, 2016

The cool dry weather has delayed the start of the toad migration season this spring but patrol members have finished installing the temporary toad warning highway signs at locations across the county. All we are waiting for now is some mild and damp weather to encourage the toads to start returning to their breeding ponds.

Events

Show Past Events

Training courses

Tue 1st April, 2025 - Mon 7th April, 2025

Planning is underway to organise a newt training course in April for members of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire ARGs,

National Forest pond walk

Sun 13th April, 2025 - Sun 13th April, 2025

This year's pond and amphibian event for the public, organised in conjunction with Groundwork and the National Forest Company, will be at the National Forest's Feanedock Wood site at Moira quite close to their Conkers site. This is just south of the South Derbyshire and North West Leicestershire boundary

We will be carrying out with a bottle trapping survey to be able to show members of the public what amphibians and invertebrates we have found in teh ponds on the site. In addition we will have put out a few cover objects on the woodland site to see what we can turn up.

Further details about the event including booking information for those wanting to attend is via Groundwork www.groundwork.org.uk/guided-walk

Amphibian Guided Walk square 13 April 2025

PondNet GCN eDNA sampling

Thu 24th April, 2025 - Wed 14th May, 2025

We will be taking the water samples at Pilsbury in the Peak District and Wolfie Pond in North East Derbyshire for the Freshwater Habitats Trust's Great Crested Newt eDNA project which will be in its 11th year. We have been assisting by taking the samples for the past 10 years.

Daytime event, we will be fixing two dates nearer the time, please contact us if you are interested in coming along or helping.