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Frogs spawn

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GemmaJF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Mar 2019 at 7:48am
Brilliant! Not sure if ours are done this year. Had the one clump then a few more and it all seems a bit quiet. If they are done spawn clumps are lower than previous years but it all looks healthy enough so fingers crossed for a good year for the tadpoles. Opted this year not to raise any indoors, have to see how they do on their own.
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Suzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Mar 2019 at 12:48pm
Rather surprised to see that the clump of spawn I transferred to my new small pond is at the comma stage. Seemed a bit quick.
The oldest clump is in the pond where all the frogs congregated and I know which clump it is. I gently pushed some duckweed off it, but was unable to see the spawn with the glare on the water so I photographed it and blew it up on the computer. Was pleased to see the tadpoles are just emerging from the spawn. 
So this week some will be free swimming.
Like Gemma I'm not intervening this year (except moving the one clump).
Suz
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chubsta View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Mar 2019 at 5:51pm
After a very slow start, in which most others in the village were reporting spawn ages before mine appeared, the frogs seem to have got their act together this afternoon - in the teeth of a gale they managed to lay a good proportion of this lot...



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Suzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Mar 2019 at 5:54pm
Wow Chubsta how many clumps is that?!
Because of the duckweed on my spawn pond I can't see exactly how many clumps...but I had 17 or so frogs so maybe about 6 or 8 clumps seems right.
Suz
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GemmaJF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Mar 2019 at 1:00am
Wow Chubsta lots of spawn! Inspected ours today and though it's been quite cool and blustery plenty of comma shaped embryos and signs of hatching. Was a little surprised to see an adult male slow worm right out in the open today catching what little sun there was. Very rare to see them in the garden unless it is under felt or the plastic sheet on the compost heap.
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Suzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Mar 2019 at 9:31am
So tadpoles coming on in various places...
Yes Gemma, I next to never see slow worms unless under covers. 
Suz
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Liz Heard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Liz Heard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Mar 2019 at 9:01am
Your thoughts on the 'unusual' frog markings are well-reasoned and seem pretty compelling to me Will.
However if the cause is as Gemma suspects, environmental, a link with air pollution crossed my mind. Since this is a problem of recent times, primarily in the built up areas where garden ponds are (less so in the wider countryside) and is now well in excess of levels deemed safe by the WHO.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             I think i read recently that it's responsible for more early human fatalities - 64,000 a year - than smoking.

And of course, frogs have sensitive skins.                          

Only a thought!                                                !                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                                                                 

Edited by Liz Heard - 16 Mar 2019 at 9:05am
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Suzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2019 at 5:22pm
I have free swimming tadpoles in one small pond now. The duckweedy pond I notice one clump where all the spawn is dead. I can't easily see the other clumps but what I can see doesn't look dead, and I saw formed tadpoles last week so they are probably somewhere in the pond. Would be nice to have some sun to make it easier to see into the ponds!
Suz
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2019 at 8:04pm
I normally see two 'waves' of frogspawn, the first is quite early, and the second should appear towards the end of April - is this the same everywhere? 
I understand the reasons for this as it means in a warm spring they develop quicker but there is always the chance of late frosts which could kill the spawn, but wonder if it is limited to the very South East where we have perhaps more unstable weather than for instance in the South West where it seems temperatures are less likely to be extreme.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2019 at 8:09pm
Ben - regarding the differing colourations, could it be that the extra cover offered by gardens, and the perhaps reduced predation, albeit at the expense of being exposed to more chemicals, could result in the survival of animals that are more brightly coloured than normal? The countryside these days is very bland generally whereas a frog with reddish stripes would not necessarily stand out amongst brightly coloured flower beds.

Aside from the usual cat casualties, and the froglets being eaten by blackbirds etc, I would imagine the causes of death for adult frogs in gardens would be almost solely of human origin, so visibility wouldn't really be an issue.
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