Earlier in October, I was reading through the digest version of the Virginia herps listserv and saw a posting that made me fall out of my seat! Eastern Spadefoot Toad found in Loudoun!!
The toad was found at Algonkian Park and while over the past 10+ years, we have had two reports of the species in different parts of Loudoun, we had never had a documented sighting (i.e. with photos).
As part of our Loudoun Amphibian Monitoring Program, we are partnering with Algonkian Park naturalists in order to monitor the area and hopefully encounter the breeding activity next spring.
We’ll keep you apprised of developments in this but for now, we just wanted to share the excitement. It also offers hope that we will find other populations across the county.
If you are interested in frogs, toads and salamanders, keep an eye on the programs calendar for the Amphibian Monitoring Program kickoff and classes that I’ll be leading this coming March.