Frog S(pawn)



The frog chorus has begun

 It’s significant what a difference few days of warmth can make at this time of the year not least of which is its affects on some of our wildlife experiences. At this time of the year one of the most obvious spectacles is the awakening of amphibians from their winter slumber. My diaries tell me that the first of these awakening usually occur around the last week in February. Frogs are the first amphibians to make it to their ancestral ponds in what appear bleak featureless puddles suddenly transform into writhing seas of frog pawn.
From quite literally nowhere frogs march on their ponds to complete their cycle of life, you have to wonder where they all come from at times.


Froggy went a courting


This year it took me a little by surprise but whilst locking the chickens up the first rounds of the frog chorus were clearly heard through the evening hum of traffic. The following day hundreds of frogs were in the pond, where they come from nobody knows? What I find amazing is that as soon as they have finished they disappear back to whence they came.
It often surprises people that frogs, indeed most amphibians spend relatively little time in the water, the bulk of their time is spend in damp areas of undergrowth where they do an excellent job keeping down garden pests such as slugs. It is also a stark realisation of the plight of our ponds and wetlands that more than 75% of frog spawning goes on in back garden ponds, a reflection on the fact that most rural ponds have been either drained, filled in or turned into other functions.

So spare a thought for amphibians as they are good indicators of a healthy environment, if you have some space consider a pond or leave that corner in the garden untidy with some deadwood or branches and be sparing with the slug pellets or better still use beer traps or other alternatives.



Otter with a bipod

For some creatures this is also a time of bounty after the lean winter months. Hundreds of amphibians descending on any available waterbody also attract predators. It is the reason why their numbers are concentrated at this time of the year to buffer the inevitable mortalities of both avian and mammalian predation.
We get many calls over the year regarding advice on ponds, how do I stop herons etc. eating fish or frogs and occasionally you get one that makes you smile. One such came from a location near Hepscott. The caller was somewhat dismayed to find frog spawn all over the lawn when none was in the pond and that this was increasing every night. What or who was the culprit they enquired?



Underwater action after frogs

 With lots of frogs in a very ample pond they were also now finding dismembered frogs and more spawn scattered about the grass. I asked if they had any close circuit TV, they did but had not checked it. The next call was what I expected, otters!

At this time of the year frogs and other amphibians are traditionally major parts of an otter’s diet. With the hard winter months over they can look forward to a protein rich bonanza of frogs and toads to rebuild their strength. What often looks like a scene of total carnage is just part of life’s rich tapestry. If it wasn’t for these seasonal bonanzas otters would fare much worse, frogs return and spawn in numbers to absorb these events and from the thousands of tadpoles that remain some are sure to reach adulthood and start the whole process again.

What both can not do without is habitat, a place to live and breed. With so many ponds lost in the wider countryside it is little wonder otters turn up in back gardens sometimes even taking the goldfish too.

It did however, come as a surprise to me and bring a smile to my face when I gave them this brief explanation and they asked where they could get more frogs from as they were now quite attached to the nightly antics of this wandering forager. They scooped the abandoned spawn back in the pond ensuring the bonanza would continue another year.

Frog time is bonanza time for otters, utter pleasure