Well that's it! The excitement's over for another year.
Although the numbers were down (around fifty frogs instead of an expected 60), I'm pleased to say I haven't found any dead frogs in the pond like other people have reported. Spawn has been laid in great quantities and the frogs have disappeared from the pond once more until next year. And yes! I do a head count - several actually. Little things just won't sit still!
I did eventually managed to take some photographs. The best way is at night with our outside light on - and using the flash on my camera. The frogs don't seem to mind my presence quite as much as when I try it during the day - I think the light shining on the pond helps camouflage me. Any skittish ones that dive for cover usually re-appear within a few minutes and don't seem to mind me after that. Neither do they seem bothered by the camera's flash. There's always a few obliging frogs that seem particularly unphased by my presence and seems at times to almost be posing!
One of my favourite photos that I took about 4 years ago with a small compact flash camera was of a small quantity of frogspawn. The image was taken close to and blown up to A4. Far from being off-putting, it was quite beautiful, each egg glistening in the damp night and with a fluid appearance as if it were covered in mercury. I've taken quite a lot of froggy photos since then but never managed to get a shot that I liked quite as much as that.
On the subject of the eggs, I'm looking forward to watching how they develop. It's fascinating to watch the tadpoles developing once they've hatched, but I've never studied the egg development in close detail. Looking at macro (close-up) shots of eggs laid at difference times during the last 2 or 3 days, the difference in their developmental stages becomes apparent. Tomorrow I'll take a small amount of recent spawn and leave it at one side so I can take macro shots on a daily basis - or maybe several times a day. It will be interesting to note and watch their development and re-search the subject a bit more.
As a child, I grew up in a house with a large back garden that had a pond and it was normal for me to see frogs and watch the different types of pond life. In fact I have a vivid memory of my father removing a large water beetle from the throat of a goldfish using a pair of tweezers. The goldfish had obviously bitten off more than it could swallow! My own children, too, have grown up with a garden pond and it's only in the last few years that it's occurred to me that there must be many children who've never seen a frog, let along touched one!
A couple of years ago I was helping with some Reception class children on a local farm* that does educational visits. The sheer delight of the children at turning over a log and finding a frog was amazing. It was even better when - right on cue - we turned over another log next to it and found a toad! We couldn't have arranged it better if we'd tried and it demonstrated the difference between a frog and a toad far better than any classroom text book. The children couldn't have been more excited if they'd gone on safari to the Serengeti. Quite simply, they thought it was fantastic!
Weather: a beautiful day with blue sky and sunshine - but a chilly wind. The temperature in the shade was only 8 degrees, but in the sun - and out of the wind - it felt much warmer.
Suddenly, during the last couple of days, green tips have started to appear on bushes and trees and the tete-a-tete daffodils are already in flower. It feels like we are well on our way to spring. But wait! The forecast tonight is for a rotten week ahead with snow more than likely at some stage during the week.
* http://www.cronkshaw.co.uk/
Ttfn :o)
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The problem with frog spawn is that it can be fairly boring for a couple of weeks after it's laid - unless of course one can put it under a microscope, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe heron doesn't appear to have paid a visit on this occasion, so in the absence of any other activity perhaps I could mention the green woodpecker which appears to have taken up residence nearby. I've heard it on two consecutive mornings this week, from the bathroom window, laughing (quite loud) for a good five minutes on each occasion.
And one day last week I had to be up very early for a business meeting. The dawn chorus was almost deafening for around 20 minutes from 5.45 a.m., with a wide range of bird life. A great change from 30 years ago, when there were few birds around, as the now well-established gardens in this area didn't exist. We now have our own nature reserve!
Are we due for tadpole reports yet?
Stephen