Frogs and frogspawn

18th January 2007. One of my e-mail correspondents has reported frogspawn in her garden pond. With all the recent rain in Britain we are all looking forward to better weather!

Click on any of the pictures to see a larger view

Rather than a 'croak', the male frog's mating call is more like a cross between a motor boat and a cat's purr! Note the puffed out chin to produce the characteristic call.

During mating the male frog grips the female with his strong, sucker like fingers. Things get rather hectic at this time. I had to separate two males and a female whose legs and arms had become so hopelessly entangled that all three were strangling and drowning each other. The joys of being a pond owner!

Massive clumps of frog spawn cover the shallow sections of the pond. Toad spawn is different in that it is laid in a long 'string' of eggs.

A couple of days after these pictures were taken, winter returned with a vengeance. The pond froze solid, it snowed and all the frogs temporarily disappeared.

The frog's legs are sturdy and powerful, enabling him to jump considerable distances. Three weeks after these pictures were taken - the frog spawn is developing into tadpoles