Frog Arrivals

aeshna5 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-02-2007, 03:47 PM

I got back from the London Wetland Centre for lunch + as I peered out of the bedroom window I noticed some little heads in the pond!

We had rain + even a clap of thunder last night + today was supposed to be 11C, so warm enough for my frogs to start arriving. There were at least 6 present + I've found 1 small clump of spawn.

The weather is staying mild for the forthcoming week, so I'm expecting many more arrivals-c90 is the most I've counted on any one day in previous years. Always a thrill when the pond is heaving with frogs.

smartie · #2 (**permalink**) 11-02-2007, 03:57 PM

Just checked my pond and no sign of anything yet. But then it was frozen over as recently as Friday so maybe best give them a couple of days.

Kayleigh · #3 (**permalink**) 11-02-2007, 04:49 PM

We dug a pond two years ago and last year we got Toads and newts breeding in there for the first time. We were over the moon.

It was a little later in the season though. Well done for spotting the earliest sporn

We had Toads in the pond all through the winter.

Deer Stalker · #4 (**permalink**) 11-02-2007, 09:01 PM

We got some frog spawn now.

schlocky · #5 (**permalink**) 12-02-2007, 04:23 PM

I HAVE TO REMOVE 95 PER CENT OF THE SPAWN IN MY POND AS I GET AROUND 200 FROGS AND IT IS ONLY 10x7 FEET! IF I LEAVE IT THE WATER TURNS GREEN AND STINKS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND ALL THE TADPOLES DIE. THE STRANGE THING IS I DID THE SAME THING LAST YEAR - LEAVING A FEW HUNDRED EGGS AND THEY STILL ALL DIED, MANY NOT EVEN HATCHING.

aeshna5 · #6 (**permalink**) 12-02-2007, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schlocky

I HAVE TO REMOVE 95 PER CENT OF THE SPAWN IN MY POND AS I GET AROUND 200 FROGS AND IT IS ONLY 10x7 FEET! IF I LEAVE IT THE WATER TURNS GREEN AND STINKS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND ALL THE TADPOLES DIE. THE STRANGE THING IS I DID THE SAME THING LAST YEAR - LEAVING A FEW HUNDRED EGGS AND THEY STILL ALL DIED, MANY NOT EVEN HATCHING.

The green is nothing to do with the frogs or their spawn- it's a bloom of algae- simple plants. It sounds as though your pond is high in nutrients + the algal population explodes as temperature rises/daylength increases. Do you have much pondweed or marginals around the edge, as these should remove some of the excess nutrients? Tap water can be a problem due to the nutrient levels.

The young tadpoles feed on plant material. My pond is about half the size of yours + I've counted 90 in there with masses of spawn covering the pond, but I don't intervene other than remove any dead adults, just in case of disease- a small number die of sheer exhaustion from the amorous encounters.

I would concentrate on getting a good balance in the pond + leave the spawn be. Obviously many tadpoles perish through predation, cannabilism, etc, but sufficient should emerge as tiny froglets in June.

C C · #7 (**permalink**) 12-02-2007, 08:59 PM

Nothing in mine yet, but two doors up from me has got a few. What amazes me, is how he always gets them first, and his pond is raised and full of Goldfish. We never get toads though, for some reason they prefer to use the river.

schlocky · #8 (**permalink**) 13-02-2007, 04:42 PM

Thanx aeshna5, I do have a nutrient prob. & the pond quickly fills up with weed (hornwort,canad. pondweed - I remove huge amounts throughout the spring & summer else there is no open water), but surely with so many eggs & taddies dying they contribute even more nutrients when their bodies decay indirectly creating a severe algal problem (the water is not normally green) & a terrible smell. I usually top up with tap water & will try to use more rain water this year. It seems I also have to weed in April till there is virtually nothing, before the insects lay their eggs.

Kayleigh · #9 (**permalink**) 13-02-2007, 06:49 PM

I saw 1 frog last night nothing else. Last year we had loads of toadlets and the water boatmen were attacking and eating them

Any ideas how to stop them this year, or is it just nature and live with it.

aeshna5 · #10 (**permalink**) 13-02-2007, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I saw 1 frog last night nothing else. Last year we had loads of toadlets and the water boatmen were attacking and eating them

Any ideas how to stop them this year, or is it just nature and live with it.

Short of enclosing the pond you'll have to live with them- it is part + parcel of the pond! Is it the tadpoles they're eating as once they've metamorphosed into toadlets they normally venture onto land? I'm sure sufficient numbers do survive- think of your pond as a mini-Serengeti where things are constantly being predated, yet life continues year to year.