Have you ever day dreamed about constant nice weather, no rain and how it would be paradise?? …
Well it is not always the case! Rain is starting to feel like a distant memory here, with the occasional sprinkle which feels like the clouds are just teasing you with what they could do if they wanted.
You’re probably all thinking typical Brits, moan when it rains and then moan when it doesn’t and your right, but the effects of no rain can be seen all over the island and importantly for us can be seen in the forest.
The release site is now on the verge of being renamed “What water?” and the famous Hope’s pond is more like “No hope pond”. When we arrived in Montserrat this was a great source of water and during the dry season one of the only ponds in the release site, but over the last few weeks we have seen this completely dry up, which is not seen often.
This as you can imagine makes the environment tough for the mountain chickens and results in them burying down to keep cool and moist. Which means finding and the frogs and data collection is a lot more difficult. It also means that the frogs have to share their new found areas with the cane toads who also seek the retreats to stay alive and this sharing of space and resources means that the toads and chickens spend time together which is one of the causes of how the chytird fungus is spread.
So we patiently wait for the arrival of rain and the return of our hiding frogs and well I guess if all else fails then maybe a team rain dance could always be done.
By Luke Harding and Candice Lambden, Project Volunteers