Frogspawn

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Frogspawn

Postby Tricia on Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:31 pm

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned having frogspawn yet. The first two splodges arrived in my pond on 24 February and since then three more have appeared. I never hear the frogs as my double-glazing is so soundproof I don't even hear the rain and am quite often surprised to open the front door to find it pelting down!

I haven't lost any fish over this hard winter - but there is one large goldfish that is terribly bloated - poor thing is almost as wide as it is long. It has been this way all winter but it doesn't seem to be bothered about it or stressed in any way. I googled a bit and found several possible reasons for bloating - none of which seem to apply as the fish seems quite contented.

The water is crystal clear so that I have also noticed an old shubunkin which seems to have a fondness for a specific spot under the hose which runs from the pump to the filter box. I guess it enjoys the vibration from the pump on its back.
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Re: Frogspawn

Postby alison on Wed Mar 17, 2010 1:39 am

We haven't got any frogspawn yet but our frogs are just returning. They have only been in the pond for a couple of days and not too many have arrived yet. I hope most are okay and have survived the winter. I know at my mother in laws she lost at least 8-10 frogs as her pond was frozen over for a few weeks whilst she was in hospital. I lost just one in the tiny pond as that had iced over and I didn't realise that anything was in it or else I would have defrosted it immediately.
Here's hoping that the morning brings them all back safe and well to the pond. Those that are here are already mating. Lucy said "Look grandma, the frogs having a piggyback" :D I did explain that they were mating. She just said "oh"
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Re: Frogspawn

Postby dampflippers on Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:21 pm

No frogspawn here yet, although the males are croaking at night.
Saw my first smooth newt hunting on land on Monday night....so if you go out with a torch, look where you are stepping!......
Oh! I just had a rook sitting in a bush looking at my pond for ages. It hopped down and was about to catch frogs, because I saw the spash as they dived!
No wonder I haven't seen many!
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Re: Frogspawn

Postby Ponddipperdave on Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:32 pm

Hello Everyone.

My frogs came from nowhere, one sunny day last week.
Over the weekend half the pond was full of spawn.
I managed to get a couple of snaps and a small video.
I managed to count 77 from the still photograph but that didn't include the females underneath.
The croaking and splashing is dying down now so I guess that's it for another year.
99% of my frogspawn died off last year, don't know the reason.
As for NEWTS, a grand year,
I was still finding day old babies in September!

Love to all
Pond Dipper Dave
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Re: Frogspawn

Postby dampflippers on Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:21 pm

Yeayy!
First couple of clumps yesterday, and more today. It's very active in the pond, but probably only about 20 frogs on view at a time.
I've had alot of newt activity too, although no eggs yet as far as I know. Plenty of dispaying and persuing.
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Re: Frogspawn

Postby alison on Sun Apr 04, 2010 11:22 am

I have a lot of spawn over the whole of my pond in the middle as well as in the shallows. Someone mentioned that if there is spawn in the middle of a pond then in means a hot summer. I don't really think that can be true as ponddipper always seems to fill his pond completely with spawn and we haven't had a hot summer for years. I loved seeing the photo you put on a few years ago Dave when the taddies were all over the beach area. I have never seen so many.
I also lost a lot of spawn last year. It just died off like yours Dave. I wonder why. Lets hope this is a brilliant year for them.
I have the tiny pond that has spawn in and although it is small I decided to get a little fountain to give it some oxygen. My son bought it and put it in whilst I was out. When I got back it had sucked up a lot of the spawn :shock: Oh no :( I took it out and placed it lower down on a stone and it did it again so now it is sitting on the side of the pond turned off. I knew I should have just got the oxygenating plants....
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Re: Frogspawn

Postby Tricia on Sun Apr 04, 2010 9:23 pm

I've been checking daily but although the spawn is gradually disappearing I haven't seen even one taddie :( .
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Re: Frogspawn

Postby Ponddipperdave on Sun Apr 11, 2010 3:38 pm

I have now got lots of taddies but only a few have left the jelly. I can tell by all the little ripples shimmering in the sun that its going to be quite good this year.
I have plenty of newt couples that seem to be keeping away from the tadpoles and are dominating the deeper parts of the pond.
I bought one of those Solar Lily pad fountains a couple of years ago only to find it kept getting clogged up by tadpoles that had been sucked into it so I threw it away. Alison you could try a couple of those oxygen blocks that are sold in aquarium shops. I've tried that before. At least they don't kill off the wildlife.
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