Natterjack toad chorus
Natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita). Merseyside, Solway, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom.
Best time: 15 Apr – 31 May (April to May). Where: Ainsdale Sand Dunes NNR, Sefton Coast, WWT Caerlaverock, Solway, Saltfleetby–Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR, Lincolnshire (United Kingdom). Time of day: The chorus starts about an hour after sunset once the air is still warm, peaks 22:00–01:00 and can run to 03:00 on warm humid nights.
- You can go on your own
- Low cost
- No binoculars needed
- Sound 5/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 15 Apr – 31 May. Mid April to May on warm, humid nights
Active from 1 Apr to 30 Jun (April to June) in a typical year.
Time of day
The chorus starts about an hour after sunset once the air is still warm, peaks 22:00–01:00 and can run to 03:00 on warm humid nights; silent below about 8 °C.
- Night chorus: 1 h after sunset → 01:00
What will you hear?
The loudest amphibian in Britain — a rolling, ratcheting chorus audible up to 2 km away across dunes.
Binoculars?
No binoculars needed. Chorus audible 2 km across the dunes; listen from the paths, red torch, no lights on the pools.
Where to go
- Ainsdale Sand Dunes NNR, Sefton Coast — Main UK stronghold; Merseyside light and coast-road traffic. Guided evening walks in season. Map
- WWT Caerlaverock, Solway — Saltmarsh pools; staff can advise. Centre closes at 5pm — arrange night access. Map
- Saltfleetby–Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR, Lincolnshire — Reintroduced population; RAF Donna Nook range nearby on weekdays. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Ainsdale Sand Dunes NNR: free, park at Ainsdale beach or the Shore Road car park and walk the dune paths after dark — listen from the paths, never enter the pools. Saltfleetby–Theddlethorpe NNR: free, open at all hours, car parks at Rimac and Sea View; check the RAF range times. Caerlaverock: the WWT centre closes at 17:00, so arrange evening access with staff in advance.
Cost: Free on the NNR dune paths; WWT Caerlaverock £4.50–£5 adult (2026), members free.
Field-recording notes
Fully protected species — no handling and no entering breeding pools; a licence is needed for anything beyond listening from the dune paths. The chorus starts suddenly on the first warm humid night and can stop within days if it turns cold.
Sources
Similar spectacles
Natterjack toad chorus on the Kerry dunesA loud, ratcheting 'rrrrRup, rrrrRup' chorus from dozens of males in shallow dune pools — the loudest amphibian in these islands — with the Atlantic surf behind the dunes and snipe overhead.
Tree frog choruses of Zeeuws-VlaanderenA rattling, surprisingly loud 'kè-kè-kè-kè' chorus from hundreds of tree frogs around the old fortress moats and pools — audible across the polder — with marsh frogs and nightingales behind; the ramparts of Retranchement alone hold a few hundred.
Fire-bellied toads, natterjacks and blue moor frogsFire-bellied toad's melancholy 'uh...uh' by the hundred over shallow pasture ponds, moor frog's bubbling 'waug-waug' underwater chorus, natterjack's ratcheting trill carrying 2 km across dune slacks, tree frogs at full volume, bittern and crane in the background.
Marsh frog & tree frog chorusesWall-to-wall marsh frog laughter from the Camargue ditches, ratcheting tree frogs from Brenne ponds, and natterjacks rolling across the Landes dune slacks.
Frog nights in the Danube floodplain forestTree frog volleys and fire-bellied toads' soft hooting from the oxbows (Altarme), marsh frog laughter, night herons croaking overhead, nightingale and beaver tail-slaps; Danube barges as a slow low bed.
Amphibian chorus of the intermittent lakeWall-to-wall Pelophylax chorus with tree frog 'krak-krak' on top, toad trills, yellow-bellied toad's soft 'poop-poop' from karst puddles, Savi's warbler and bittern in the mix.
More: all spectacles in the United Kingdom · frog and toad choruses · the United Kingdom in April · the United Kingdom in May