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Frogs spawn

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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: 24 Feb 2019 at 5:55pm
Thanks Chubsta! Yes, mindful of prowling cats, foxes etc, i saw to it that amphibians leaving the ponds find immediate shelter (and food). There are piles of selected rocks and dead wood, every item meeting the twin criteria of suitability for refuge and beauty. They tend to be broad and irregular with lots of 'nooks and crannies', while weathered and shapely. There's also a low bank covered with a range of well-established native species of fern, plus pond-side Flag Iris and clumps of indigenous sedges such as Pendulous Sedge. Hidden beneath the ferns are further rocks and logs. The (open-sided) compost heap is also just a hop or two away.

Loads of exciting action frog-wise at the moment. Night before last i counted around 70 frogs at the surface (probably a few more under the vegetation and
around the garden).

I'm chuffed!




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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: 24 Feb 2019 at 8:41pm
Fantastic! That's actually frog soup!
Suz
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will View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote will Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Feb 2019 at 7:39am
Great to see things hotting up in ponds!  Ben, I could swear that looks like a GCN in the middle of your fern photo, just to the right of the light coloured vertical leaf blade.  Or maybe I should go to specsavers!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Feb 2019 at 10:25am
Went for a dog walk last night through some local woods - there is a very fast flowing stream which has the odd slow pool, in one of the shallow ones we saw at least twenty newts moving about - have never seen a newt in there before! Unfortunately, due to poor light we couldn't get any photos but they were very lovely to see
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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: 27 Feb 2019 at 11:08am
Will, I spotted that mystery object as well and wondered what it was!
We have had frosty nights after the sunny days so that seems to have put a damper on the frogs.
Suz
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Mar 2019 at 10:19am
At least another two clumps of spawn have appeared here overnight. I say at least, as possibly there are more but all fused into one heap. It was a very mild night so I half expected more would be laid.
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: 01 Mar 2019 at 11:55am
Still no spawn here yet though frog numbers are still increasing. Cooler and grey here today, but the rain seems to have encouraged a big influx of smooth newts overnight. Had only seen a couple in the pond over the past few weeks, now we have loads of them and very active despite the cool day.

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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: 01 Mar 2019 at 2:47pm
Having seen more spawn first thing this morning, I was surprised a couple of hours later to open the back door and hear frogs croaking. There were no visible frogs first thing. I had a watch with binoculars from a distance and counted seventeen altogether. They're still there thrashing and croaking, but some seem to have already gone as there are only a dozen now. 
I know some of you get more than this. but it's the most I've ever had, so I am dead chuffed.
Suz
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Mar 2019 at 1:20pm
First clump of spawn for 2019 this morning


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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: 02 Mar 2019 at 5:09pm
Great to see/hear all, and you're as eagle-eyed as ever Will (and Suzy).

No red frogs seen this year Will. However, there were a couple of almost uniformly yellow individuals with only the vaguest of spotting/banding.
Would it be fair to say that the common frog has the widest variation in markings of any UK herp species?




As in other years, for observation i put a tiny bit of spawn in a receptacle on the window sill. That was two days ago and they're tadpoles already.



Went for a walk in a suburban park this afternoon. There were marsh marigolds in flower and i found spawn at 3 locations, two of which were tiny, temporary pools.
Although as Suzy says, it's difficult to estimate when there's spawn on spawn and some of it has swelled, i'd estimate one of these 'puddle ponds' had 80-100 clumps.





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