Category Archives: amphibian

Toad

27 Saturday Mar 2021

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Back in January I blogged about the gruesome sight that awaited me on exiting my flat one day: a frozen Toad (A gruesome sight, January 2021). Fortunately, my most recent sighting of a Toad was much more pleasant, for me and the Toad. I started to roll over a rotting log, thinking I might find some beetles, when I spotted a pair of warty legs poking out. I managed to get a few photos before the little creature realised I had removed its covering and began to move. I quickly, and carefully, put the log back – the beetles would have to wait for another day, though it occurs to me that the Toad might well have eaten them.

210327 toad

First frog spawn

07 Sunday Feb 2021

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Yesterday it was my first caterpillar; today saw another, rather different first sighting for 2021. Though it’s a bit earlier than the last couple of years, I spotted my first frog spawn, at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, not in any of the official ponds but rather in an area of the west paddock that is so water-logged from all the rain we’ve had this year that there are several large temporary pools.

210207 frog spawn (1)

I wonder if frog spawn can survive freezing and thawing? We’ve not had any snow but there’s a bitterly cold wind blowing straight from the Arctic and our temperatures are forecast to be mostly below zero for a few days. It will be interesting to see if the spawn can survive this chilly blast and continue to develop into tadpoles. I’ll keep you posted.

A gruesome sight

27 Wednesday Jan 2021

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Today’s post is a bit gruesome but, I think, interesting enough to share. This was the sight that greeted me when I stepped out of my front gate Monday morning – a frozen Toad. Not only was the creature itself frozen stiff but, when I tried to move it, I found the Toad was also frozen to the pavement. After Sunday’s dusting of snow and the continuing chilly temperatures, the freezing wasn’t so much of a surprise as seeing the Toad itself. I presume it must have been living somewhere under the flagstones and gravel of my front yard. Such a shame to see it dead rather than alive.

210127 toad

215/366 Mr Warty

02 Sunday Aug 2020

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Or it might be Mrs Warty – I’m not sure how you tell the gender of a Common toad, and this one wasn’t hanging around to let me have a second look anyway. Those warts aren’t really warts, of course – they’re swellings above glands in the skin that can secrete a poisonous substance that acts as a defence mechanism.

200802 toad (1)

Though they’re not the most attractive of creatures, toads are, according to my Fauna Britannica, ‘highly intelligent, learn quickly and can be tamed, and they are extremely long-lived (40 years at least)’. Apparently, they also have ‘a marked homing instinct and will return to the same resting spot in some damp corner time after time’, so perhaps I need to go back for another look at this one.

200802 toad (2)

84/366 In the ponds

24 Tuesday Mar 2020

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I saw my first-ever Common toad (Bufo bufo) spawn when I was checking out the local ponds yesterday. Their structure – double rows of dark round eggs within long see-through strings – is unmistakable.

200324 toad spawn

I couldn’t find any Common frog (Rana temporaria) spawn but that might be because the spawn has now all hatched into tadpoles. There weren’t too many of those either – perhaps the local Grey heron or other birds have been feasting on their version of caviar.

And the only other critter that was swimming about in the murky, still muddy water was this Water boatman (Corixa punctata), scooting along on the surface in that haphazard way they do.

200324 water boatman

59/366 Good weather for frogs?

28 Friday Feb 2020

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Do frogs like the rain? As they’re amphibians, I’m assuming they do but I’m sure even they experience difficulties when there’s too much water around, and maybe it’s just their tadpoles that, of necessity, like water.

200228 frog spawn (1)

Our miserable weather continued today, with heavy rain from dawn to dusk, so these photos are from a couple of days ago when I enjoyed a meander around Forest Farm Nature Reserve in the all-too-brief sunshine. I found this frog spawn, the eggs of the Common frog (Rana temporaria), in the dragonfly pond at the reserve.

200228 frog spawn (3)

I initially thought it was a little early but it turns out I blogged about finding frog spawn at Lavernock Nature Reserve on the exact same date last year. I missed the tadpoles in 2019 so must remember to check for them in a week or so.

200228 frog spawn (2)

56/365 Frog spawn

25 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by in 365DaysWildin2019, amphibian, nature, spring

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190225 frog spawn (1)

Plenty of sunshine in recent days means lots of light and warmth, which means the Common frogs (Rana temporaria) have been doing their thing in the pond at Lavernock Nature Reserve, and there are now huge clumps of spawn. Some of the little black dots already look to be developing, though, apparently, only 1 in 50 of these eggs will grow to frog-hood. I’ll be keeping an eye on them whenever I pass through this way.

190225 frog spawn (2)

Invasive American red-eared terrapins

01 Tuesday Aug 2017

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Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles battled alien invaders for the good of society, yet the popularity of their comic books, TV cartoons and films created a craze for pet turtles, the idiotic and irresponsible owners of which have now created their own alien invaders by releasing their unwanted pets into Britain’s rivers, ponds and assorted waterways?

170801 American red-eared terrapin

Cambodia’s Common green frog

29 Wednesday Jun 2016

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When I lived in Cambodia in 2013, one of the things that regularly made me smile was these little frogs, the Common greens (Hylarana erythraea), also known as the Green paddy frogs. Although they would live almost anywhere there was a pond or stagnant water, there was one particular pond, in the grounds of a local pagoda, where I knew they could always be found.

160629 Cambodia Common green frog (1)

The frogs were quite wary of humans – perhaps they had some realisation that the locals considered them a food source – so I would have to move very slowly and quietly ever closer to the pond to try to get photos. And, even then, the slightest breeze or loud noise or change in the light would see some of them leap frantically away to hide, well camouflaged, under a lily pad. And that just made me laugh out loud, which scared the rest of them into panicky hopping. The long narrow pond was also full of waterlilies so, for me, the combination of cute frogs and gorgeous blooms was irresistible.