30 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in amphibian
I was very pleasantly surprised to spot these tadpoles today in a tiny pond at a local nature reserve. I’d not noticed any frog spawn there this year and had seen several dog owners/walkers letting their charges splash about in the two ponds so figured any spawn had been destroyed. Let’s hope these little wrigglers get left alone long enough to make it to adulthood.
11 Friday Mar 2022
I first saw this, my first frog spawn of the year a couple of days ago but it got bumped from yesterday’s post by the excitement of seeing the Bonaparte’s gull. This spawn is a bit later than last year’s first sighting and I’ve only spotted the one lot, despite peering into many pools and puddles. I hope that doesn’t bode ill for the local frog population.
27 Saturday Mar 2021
Posted in amphibian
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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.
07 Sunday Feb 2021
Posted in amphibian
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.
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.
27 Wednesday Jan 2021
Posted in amphibian
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.
02 Sunday Aug 2020
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.
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.
24 Tuesday Mar 2020
Tags
Common frog, Common frog tadpole, Common toad, Common toad spawn, pond wildlife, tadpole, Water boatman
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.
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.
28 Friday Feb 2020
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.
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.
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.
25 Monday Feb 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, amphibian, nature, spring
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.
26 Saturday Aug 2017
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… are contagious!
earthstar 
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