The Lyons Share

Once every 1461 days we get a 29th February and a chance to see a 'leap frog' (this isn't a thing, I made it up). By a total coincidence I did exactly that today and got a new amphibian thanks to James Harding-Morris, Seth Gibson and Mark Telfer. I had a long overdue day off and headed to the butterfly house again at Whipsnade Zoo. All that will have to wait as it was rather eclipsed by these beauties at the end of the day in Bedfordshire. This is the Midwife Toad Alytes obstetricans. What a smart little beast and a great scientific name too. Introduced but apparently not a major threat being a poor disperser. James found three very quickly and I indulged in some shots.

Such incredible eyes on them. The rather sickly colour and texture of the skin reminds me of the zombies from the Walking Dead! Such pleasing proportions too and great to see them next to Common Toad. This little one really showed the lines of red warts that are really distinctive.