Mains of Kinblethmont Solar Park Amphibian Records 2014
Caledonian Conservation
Description
Amphibian species recorded during a Great Crested Newt (GCN) presence survey of a pond with suitable habitat for GCN. The GCN survey was carried out to inform the Ecological Appraisal for a potential solar park.
Geographic Description
Kinblethmont Solar Park
Purpose
These records were collected during a GCN presence survey conducted to inform an Ecological Appraisal for Kinblethmont Solar Park.
Data quality
We have a very high level of confidence in this dataset. The recorders and/or determiners are highly experienced ecologists.
Methods
The presence survey aimed to detect GCN in a pond with suitable habitat if any were present. No GCN were recorded, however other species of amphibians were identified during the survey. A presence survey requires four visits between mid-March and mid-June (two of which must be between mid-April and mid-May), in accordance with then-current guidance (English Nature 2001). Note that new guidance now recommends three of the four survey visits should be completed between mid-April and mid-May, but this was published after completion of surveys for this project (Natural England 2015). Survey visits must be undertaken under licence, and survey methods include bottle trapping, netting, visual searches (including for eggs) and torching (English Nature 2001; Natural England 2015). The pond at Kinblethmont was surveyed on 12th/13th May, 13th/14th May, 10th/11th June and 11th/12th June 2014. Methods are described below:
On each survey visit the pond was first visited in the evening. Torching was undertaken first, when suitably dark, using a Clulite Clubman Deluxe CB2 1 million candlepower spotlight.
After torching the pond, bottle traps were set around the pond perimeter, at 2m intervals for all accessible areas of shoreline. Bottle traps were collected the following morning ensuring they were never left unattended for longer than 10 hours in May and 8 hours in June in accordance with guidance (English Nature 2001; Natural England 2015). After collecting bottle traps, netting was undertaken as were egg searches (visual searches).
Citation
Caledonian Conservation ([Insert download year]). Mains of Kinblethmont Solar Park Amphibian Records 2014. Occurrence dataset on the NBN Atlas
Rights
CC-BY
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Digitised records
Looking up... the number of records that can be accessed through the NBN Atlas. This resource was last checked for updated data on 13 Dec 2022. The most recent data was published on 13 Dec 2022.
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