With only six native species in Scotland, amphibians are easy to identify, and many are easy to find. One of our commonest, the palmate newt, is present in 42% of Scottish ponds surveyed, so your odds of finding one on a short expedition are very reasonable.

Within the Cairngorms Connect area, there are three commonly sighted amphibians; common frog, common toad and palmate newt. Each of these species are well suited for living within the Cairngorms.

The common frog (Rana temporaria) is perhaps the most iconic of the three, and the easiest to spot. As they are predated upon by many birds, such as grey heron and gulls, they often attempt to flee upon approach. Ironically this makes them very easy to notice, and the twitching of nearby heather can be a good indication of their presence. They are abundant across the Cairngorms Connect habitats, and have a huge altitudinal range, having been found breeding as high as 1120m at Lochain Buidhe on the Cairngorm plateau itself. Living so high up delays their breeding season by over a month but gives them large areas to hunt in - they will travel up to 10km to find insects, slugs and other invertebrates to eat.

Across Scotland the colouration of common frogs can be highly varied - green, red and even near black individuals have been spotted. Their odd colour variance was noted as far back as 1893 by the famous zoologist George Boulenger, and in the Cairngorms, there are quite a high number of red frogs. The easiest way to be certain you have a common frog is by the dark mask running behind their eyes, and their propensity to leap away upon detection.

Image (above): Common frog on left – note the dark mask behind eyes, and common toad on right. Credit: Danny O’Brien

The common toad (Bufo bufo) may appear superficially similar to the frog, but is very easy to distinguish once you know what to look for. They are covered in wart-like dry skin, and their movement is very different. Unlike the common frog, toads will often not attempt to escape when they are approached, and at best will attempt to crawl away - if you notice large leaps, you have found a frog. The reason for their apparent laziness is due to the presence of poison glands, found both in their neck and across their skin. These contain an alkaloid neurotoxin, called ‘bufotoxin’, which deters many would-be predators. Unfortunately, there are predators intelligent enough to bypass this defence, and otters will peel the skin from a toad to get at the edible flesh. This poisonous quality extends to the toad tadpoles, and allows toads to breed in ponds that a frog would do poorly in - many fish will eat frog tadpoles in large numbers, while toad tadpole populations are barely affected.

Toads can live for around eight years in the wild, and in captivity will surprisingly reach ages of thirty years. They return to the pond they were spawned in to breed between 79-96% of the time, which is why they can be badly affected by habitat fragmentation. In the lowlands, huge numbers are killed during their annual migrations by road traffic. Contiguous habitat, such as that being developed by Cairngorms Connect, is perfect for toad populations as it allows them to undertake safer migrations to their hunting grounds, which will commonly be among forest up to one and a half kilometres from their pond.

Image (above): Palmate newts. Credit: Danny O’Brien

The final resident is the palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus). These are very common across the Cairngorms and are the only British newt that can thrive in peaty, acidic water. Other British newt species (Smooth and Great Crested newts) dislike nutrient-poor water, and while they can be found in tiny pockets around the Cairngorms, they are not found within the Cairngorms Connect area itself. Palmates can reliably be identified from other newts by the lack of spots or other pigmentation on their chin.

 During breeding season, the male newts court females by fanning them using their flat tails, and if the female is unimpressed, she will simply swim away. It is during this season that the males develop webbed, black back feet - which is where their common name is derived. Like frogs, these can be found at many altitudes, and live at 2000m in the Pyrenees. High altitude records are likely to be severely underreported in the UK, so any findings by the public are greatly appreciated by national recording schemes.

For more information (including quoted statistics) on Scottish amphibians, check out the ARC-trust website, or the free book ‘The Amphibians and Reptiles of Scotland’ from the Glasgow Natural History Society.

Main image: Toad with mountain backdrop. Credit: Danny O'Brien.