Volunteers at work during the district’s annual toad hunt. Image: Contributed

Clarence Valley Conservation in Action (CVCIA) Landcare Group has recommenced its nocturnal brand of Landcare for the 17/18 season a month earlier than last season and already has collected over 1600 cane toads in six outings between Yamba, Brooms Head and Micalo Island in the Lower Clarence with Maclean to be checked this Friday night. Interestingly, so far this season adult female toads have consistently outnumbered adult males in the Friday night collections turning the tables on the trend from early in the 16/17 season and whilst CVCIAs toading contact, Scott Lenton, can’t be sure of the exact reason ‘the explanation may well be related to the wetter spring conditions this year’ he suspects. The biggest numbers of toads have come from the Yamba Golf Course where most CVCIA outings and effort has occurred although some of our volunteers and private landowners have been collecting plenty around Maclean, other parts of Yamba, the Brooms Head area, Chatsworth and Micalo Island. The early signs show that since the end of September when toading commenced, numbers are declining in some of the target areas, particularly Yamba Golf Course and Brooms Head village, however this early season trend has been observed in the past and until we get to the end of the calendar year we won’t be confident to say this season’s trend is different. Fingers crossed! The wetter Spring conditions, especially around the Brooms Head area, has fired up some breeding activity and already 1300 came toad tadpoles have been caught this season by some of our volunteers and private landowners around both Brooms Head (Lake Arragan and Sandon Rd) and West Yamba, whereas last season tadpoles weren’t caught until after New Year. The CVCIA is keen to increase public awareness of where toads are located in the Lower Clarence and how the community to assist in their control. Volunteers undertake cane toad collections for a couple of hours each Friday night and this season CVCIA will be rotating mainly between sites in Yamba, Brooms Head, Micalo Island and Maclean to focus on main toad populations south of the Clarence River and hold up the southern spread of toads on the east coast. This Friday night we will be checking sites in and around Maclean with local people keen to learn more invited to meet at 7.15pm adjacent to the Maclean Sports Centre at Wherrett Park so we can reduce the significant population of toads that has established in the town in recent years. Interested members of the public can obtain more information by visiting the Groups Facebook page, CVCIA Landcare, our website cvcia.org.au or by getting in touch with the Groups toading contact, Scott Lenton, on phone 0438 430 234.