Tadpoles

28 Tuesday Mar 2023

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Common frog tadpole, tadpoles, Toad tadpole

Are they Common frog tadpoles? Or are they Toad tadpoles? At this stage, I don’t think it’s possible to tell. I’ve read that toad tadpoles remain black and frog tadpoles change to a greenish colour, though I’m not sure when that happens. My photos here were taken four days apart, the first on 23 March and the second yesterday, 27 March, and there seems not to have been any change to them.

230328 tadpoles (1)

Though I have been checking areas of standing water, I’ve missed seeing any amphibian spawn this year. These particular tadpoles are living in a roadside puddle, fortunately one that seems to contain water most of the time, so I will check back on them in a week or so.

230328 tadpoles (2)

There is something magical about watching this tiny creatures wriggling – it carries me back to warm childhood days. Here’s a very short video that I hope the child in you will also enjoy.

Little wrigglers

30 Wednesday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in amphibian

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Tags

Common frog, Common frog tadpole, tadpoles

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.

220330 tadpoles

84/366 In the ponds

24 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in amphibian, nature, reptiles

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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.

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