The frogs are back!
By malverntrev
14 comments
Our small ponds are now three years old and it was surprising how quickly they became ‘naturalised’. We don’t have fish because we wanted to rely on native wildlife. The common newts arrived in the first year and we’ve also got dragon flies, water boatmen and some water plants and duckweed. The blanket weed also arrived and it does need raking off every so often, but it makes good compost.
For the last two years we have seen a huge congregation of frogs for about one week when there is an absolute mating frenzy. They got it together in late February this year, two weeks earlier than last year, perhaps because the winter was milder. When approached they all dive for cover, but they are easy to observe if you stand perfectly still as I think they detect movement. After a couple of minutes they start carrying on as before, with a lot of croaking and thrashing around. I have now got into the habit of just taking out a chair and sitting there for a while just to look and take a few pictures. I notice that they conveniently tend to face towards the sun when it comes out, so they seem to actually smile for the camera.
I counted 70 frogs last week but this week all is quiet and they have dispersed leaving a lot of spawn. I often come across one when gardening so I guess they are out there in the undergrowth helping to keep the slug numbers down.
7 Mar, 2012
9 likes
Previous post: Indoor colour gives way to outdoor colour
Next post: Water butts, conservatory blooms and patio pots
Comments
Wow Trev, 70 frogs - lucky you. Nice blog
7 Mar, 2012
excellent photo. Good news about the number of frogs.
8 Mar, 2012
Dont have fish. They eat the Dragonflies that spend most of their lives under water.
Dragonflies are older than the Dinosaurs. They emerge for 3 weeks to mate, then go back under water for 11 months of the year. You are extremely fortunate to have them.
I am still trying to attract them !
8 Mar, 2012
Amazing pictures!
8 Mar, 2012
They certainly are! What a sight! Great photos.
8 Mar, 2012
Lovely photos, they do look like they are smiling.
8 Mar, 2012
I do like those smiley frogs, great pictures and thanks Diane ~ i didnt know that about the dragonflies.
8 Mar, 2012
They are doing what comes naturally, hence the smiles, lol, lovely photo`s....
8 Mar, 2012
Thanks for your kind comments and advice. The pond is now populated by very many tadpoles of various sizes. We saw the local robin last week standing by the pond then darting down to pick up a tadpole, bash it on the ground and then eat it - never seen that before!
The frogs have dispersed, but I still come across them when weeding, etc - not that the weather has allowed much of that recently - glad I got ahead of things in March. The newts are also paddling around in the pond.
1 May, 2012
Gosh I didn't know the robins ate tadpoles, I have hundreds in my bottom pond, never ever seen any newts here though, when my youngest lived the other end of our town she often found them in her garden but she was only around the corner from an old clay pit, across the field is an area thats fenced off as there are newts always breeding there...
1 May, 2012
Lovely pics. Do you problems with newts? Ours have eaten the frogspawn in our small garden pond
:(
21 May, 2012
Not really. Perhaps our pond is large enough. We had so much spawn that maybe there was enough to hatch out a lot of tadpoles as well as feed our newt population. Both seem to be doing ok.
22 May, 2012
That has to be the froggiest pond ever! Fantastic photos. Next problem is mowing the lawn when the babies are still very small - we never found a solution to that one.
15 Jun, 2012
Featured on
Recent posts by malverntrev
- September Sun
4 Oct, 2012
- More Roses
27 Sep, 2012
- Hibiscus
10 Sep, 2012
- Brazilian Jasmine (Mandevilla)
29 Jun, 2012
- Easter Lily Cactus (Echinopsis oxygona)
29 Jun, 2012
- Pond Garden
28 Jun, 2012
Members who like this blog
-
Gardening with friends since
9 Aug, 2009 -
Gardening with friends since
6 Jun, 2010 -
Gardening with friends since
9 May, 2011 -
Gardening with friends since
4 Jul, 2008 -
Gardening with friends since
16 Jun, 2011 -
Gardening with friends since
27 Oct, 2009 -
Gardening with friends since
22 Oct, 2008 -
Gardening with friends since
10 Sep, 2010 -
Gardening with friends since
20 Apr, 2010
Thats amazing. Frogs return to the pond they were born in. I love to sit and watch them as you do.
7 Mar, 2012