Frogs!

The frogs are back! 

One of the signs of spring is the sound of male Common Frogs croaking in the ponds.  They are calling the females.  This is soon followed by seeing one, then two, then many more swimming around in a relatively small area.  We spotted these ones in the Bogbean pond in the Scrapes.  

There is plenty of frogspawn in some of the ponds.  Temperature plays an important role in the timing of the hatching of the spawn.  Low temperatures mean it can take many days before hatching, whilst warmer conditions see the tadpoles develop more quickly.  If you want a closer look at spawn then there is a tank set up in the Activity Room.

When the frogs first return they are quite shy, disappearing underwater and staying there, but after a few days they become more used to people walking by and although they do dive back underwater they soon emerge again.  We tried to count them in one pond and got numbers ranging from 18 to 20 and the last count reached 30!  This year has seen much more activity than last year when sightings of frogs and spawn were low.

The frogs can be photogenic. 

You can see the smooth skin and the reflection shows their eyes.

These two look like they are smiling!