I've received a sad tale of events that occurred last week (towards end of February) in local ponds during a cold spell. A friend found a dozen or so dead frogs in her allotment pond. They were all upright in the water with just the heads sticking out. She removed them to the nearby river bank in the hope of putting them to good use for the Heron. There were similar incidents at 2 neighbouring ponds.
It occured to me to wonder (perhaps stupidly!) if the frogs were in fact dead? Or had they been reduced to a torpid state by a sudden drastic drop in temperature? In which case they would presumably warm up on the river bank and hop away. I don't know if this is possible but I remember seeing lizards in Scotland which, like frogs, are cold-blooded creatures. They had crawled into the May sunshine on the warm tarmac road then had been unable to move once the sun disappeared and the temperature fell. I wonder if this is the case with frogs? If anyone has any ideas on this please contribute in the 'comments' box below.
Temperature at 3.30pm is 5 C in the shade. The thin layer of ice on my pond has thawed from this morning but still all quiet on the western front.
The snowdrops I transplanted last year from my late father-in-law's garden have taken well and are in full flower. I'm pleased I gave some away and hope they are giving as much pleasure to them as to me.
Ttfn :0)
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