Common Lizard, Lacerta vivipara

Description: Usually a dull brown in colour with possible red, yellow, grey or green tinting. Common lizards reach up to 15 cm long.

Rarity: Common

Where to Look: Most often seen basking on log piles.

Life Cycle: Common lizards can live for up to 6 years. A female will give birth to between 5 and 8 live young.

Prey: Carnivore - Common Lizards eat insects and spiders found at ground level or in shrubs and bushes.

Predators: Snakes, rats and birds among others.

Slow Worm, Anguis fragilis

Description: Slow worms are sleek thin lizards resembling snakes. Adults vary in colour between dark brown and light grey. Females tend to have a dark stripe along their backs while males are plain. Slow worms can grow to 45cm in length.

Rarity: Slow worms are common in the UK.

Where to Look: Very rarely seen except under tin sheet and roofing felt specifically put out to monitor populations.

Life Cycle: Slow worms are very long lived, some being recorded as reaching 50. They take about 3 years to mature and females produce between 6 and 12 young per year.

Prey: Carnivore - Slow worms eat slugs.

Predators: Hedgehogs, kestrels, adders and rats among others.

Smooth Newt, Triturus vulgaris

Description: The smooth newt has soft skin and a tail flattened at the sides. They are generally a yellow-olive colour with a black spotted torso. They reach about 10cm long when fully grown.

Rarity: Smooth newts are common in the UK.

Where to Look: All ponds along the edge of the marsh.

Life Cycle: Newts can live for up to 10 years. Newts lay eggs in freshwater on plants during spring. They then hatch into tadpoles and by the end of summer leave the water as miniature newts.

Prey: Carnivore - Newts feed on slugs, worms and insects.

Predators: Hedgehogs, rats and snakes.

Great Crested Newt, Triturus cristatus

Description: The largest British newt has slimy, warty skin. Black on top and black spotted golden belly underneath. They reach about 16cm in length.

Rarity: Species is in decline and protected by law.

Where to Look: All ponds along the edge of the marsh.

Life Cycle: Newts can live for up to 10 years. Newts lay between 200-300 eggs in freshwater on plants during spring. They then hatch into tadpoles and by the end of summer leave the water as miniature newts.

Prey: Carnivore - Zooplankton, slugs and insects.

Predators: Hedgehogs, rats and snakes.

Marsh Frog, Rana ridibunda

Description: Much larger than the common frog, marsh frogs can be distinguished by their pointed snouts and lack of a black patch on their backs.

Rarity: Common in South East England.

Where to Look: Main Borrowdyke and most ditches on the marsh. Likes to sunbathe on the banks of the ditches, so is easily seen.

Life Cycle: Marsh frogs produce numerous young in pools and dykes. They spawn into tadpoles before developing into frogs by September or October.

Prey: Carnivores - Insects and small creatures like worms.

Predators: Heron, foxes and other such predators.