I’m so excited! I spotted this lovely couple in the wildlife pond early this morning, a pair of common frogs in a copulatory embrace called Amplexus. I rushed to the house to grab my camera before they disappeared. During our first spring living here we saw plenty of frog couples, but until now they had little choice but to use the large Koi pond, ending in disastrous results for the spawn.
The Koi pond.
Just a few of our smaller Koi, the larger fish are approximately 2 feet in length.
The wildlife pond in a sheltered position within the rockery, directly behind the Koi pond. A safe haven for the frog and newt community in our garden smallholding.
If this pair (or any others) spawn in the wildlife pond it will have a greater chance of becoming tadpoles, I’m especially happy because our wildlife pond is less than a year old. We decided to add an additional small pond to our garden not long after moving here, our intention being to offer the already present frog and newt community a safe place to reproduce successfully.
Have you spotted any spawn where you are? Take part in this years Big Spawn Count and record your findings, the more people counting, the better the information to help provide more of an insight into the amorous lives of toads and frogs.
Anyone can take part in the Big Spawn Count by going to their garden or school pond, and counting the number of spawn present. You can print the form to help you complete the survey, please enter the results on-line afterwards.
http://www.freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/projects/big-spawn-count/
I’ll be watching, will you?
Filed under: Wildlife, Wildlife Pond Tagged: big spawn count, big spawn count 2014, common frogs, frog eggs, frogs mating, frogspawn, mating frogs, wildlife pond
