The day after we moved the frogspawn, we noticed that fresh clumps had been laid too. We've had our little pond for seven years and though we get plenty of frogs in there, this is the first time we've had frogspawn.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. The frogspawn has just disappeared over time without hatching out. I think the pond may be too small, it measures just 84cm x 64cm.
As I said, we do get plenty of frogs in there though. They also use the little frog house I have at the side of the pond which is camouflaged by the plants. Here's a froggy sunning himself on the side of the pond.
Preparing to jump.
You can just see his legs here, he's resting underneath the marsh marigold.
I don't think we're destined to ever have tadpoles but I'm just glad that the frogs are happy to visit.
How brilliant, I love to see frogs in the garden. Shame about the frogspawn, but it's good the adults stay xx
ReplyDeleteI really thought we were going to get some tadpoles this year, never mind, I just don't think the pond is big enough. Either that or it's not catching enough sun.
DeleteI've never seen any frogs in my garden, and I think they must be scarce round here. I don't know of anyone who has a pond. I suppose yours are just visitors, who have grown up in a bigger pond elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteWe had literally hundreds of tiny frogs hopping about one year, it was a nightmare trying to mow the grass. I think someone must have a pond nearby.
DeleteYou certainly got some great photos of the frogs.
ReplyDeleteThank you. It helps that they stay quite still.
DeleteWhat a shame that no froglets appeared in the end, but good to have a little spot where the frogs like to come and chill out!
ReplyDeleteLisa x
I know, it is a shame. We get quite a few frogs in the pond though so I know it's being well used.
DeleteAwww shame about the frogspawn, but at least you still have froggy visitors :-) I haven't seen so many in our garden this year so far, there were a couple a few weeks ago when i was weeding, one was very small, but nothing since.
ReplyDeleteI know it got very cold after the frogspawn was laid so I wonder if the weather had something to do with it, and also account for your lack of frogs this year.
DeleteWhat a shame, bur least you get them visiting. Good pictures. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm glad they do visit, it helps keep the slug population down.
DeleteFroggy visits are certainly wonderful. I would love to have a little pond one of these days. Water is such a calming & enjoyable feature in a garden, not only in and of itself, but also all of the wildlife it attracts.
ReplyDeleteMy pond is tiny yet it attracts so much wildlife, I wouldn't be without it.
DeleteNever say never..might happen. We had frogs in a old house of ours, goodness they were so noisy and as the pond was under our bedroom window we always had to move into our spare room during their "courtship" ! Loves ponds .xx
ReplyDeleteThey do make a noise, don't they? Funny that you had to move bedrooms because of them though. I think a pond is a great feature in a garden.
Deletewe have made pond this year but so far havn't seen any frogs.The gardens on either side of us have ponds with frogs so I am hoping some come over to visit!
ReplyDeleteThe frogs will arrive soon enough, especially if there's ponds in the gardens either side of you. It's great to watch them, I'd hate to be without my little pond now.
DeleteMy pond is tiny too but we have plenty of frogs in the garden. Mike found some tiny frogs in a tray in the greenhouse last year. It was a nightmare trying to keep Rocky away from them x
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how much wildlife a small amount of water attracts. We used to have a cat who would carry a frog in his mouth to show us, he was so gentle with it, just set it down and watch it.
DeleteHow wonderful to have frogs, they are so entertaining as they hop about!
ReplyDeleteThey are, I could watch them for hours. It's been great these past few days with the warm weather, they're all sunning themselves by the side of the pond or just on the surface of the water.
DeleteGreat froggy photos, Jo. We had one in our garden a few years ago - although there was some debate as to whether it was a frog or a toad as we have no pond in our garden. He/she hasn't been seen for ages so has probably moved along the road a wee bit to a house with a pond!
ReplyDeleteThank you. We used to get quite a lot of frogs in the garden even when we didn't have a pond, there must be a pond very close by but I don't know where.
DeleteWe have frogs, but only hear them most of the time and very occasionally see one, but had so many tadpoles last year. We'll see what happens this year. Our pond is only small too. I think I've shown it on my blog. Love your action shots! Take care.
ReplyDeleteWe see lots of frogs in the garden, the little pond is amongst the flower border so they're always hopping around there.
DeleteI don't think it's the size of the pond Jo, we have a friend who's pond is a small wooden barrel around 2 ft diameter, it's in a shady spot but they have spawn then tadpoles the froglets every year. Water beetles and dragonfly larvae predate spawn and tadpoles, maybe that's what happened to your's.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of frogs spawning in barrels before too thinking about it, and of course, I found frogspawn in the watering can. I'm not sure what happened to the frogspawn but it's a shame I didn't get tadpoles.
DeleteYour pond shouldn't be too small, Jo. When I was teaching we raised frogs in just a small tank quite successfully. It is possible that if the pond it's quite shallow that birds or some other creatures might actually ear the spawn. Also if it is shallow, frost or very cold conditions can 'kill' the eggs.
ReplyDeleteWe had a frog sitting basking in the sunshine on the side of the pond the other day but as soon as I aimed the camera at it it slid into the water. I'm not sure whether our frogspawn hatched or not. We never saw any signs of any tadpoles times but then again there's quite a bit of space for them to hide.
I'm not sure what depth the pond would need to be but it isn't very shallow, I've had to stand a couple of bricks on top of each other for the plant baskets to stand on so it's definitely deeper than a tank. I think it might be positioned in too much shade. I'm sure your frogspawn must have hatched, there was loads of it. There'll probably be a sudden explosion in frog numbers in your garden and then you'll know.
DeleteIt is a shame that you haven't had tadpoles and froglets but it is good that such a small amount of water can attract so much wildlife isn't it!
ReplyDeleteIt is. I'd recommend putting a pond in any garden, even a teeny tiny one like mine.
DeleteWe always got frogs in the garden in our previous house as we where near a stream. One used to visit the same spot every year.
ReplyDeleteMick's auntie has a frog which visits every year and makes his home behind their water feature, which is a barrel on top of a barrel with running water. He never ventures in to the water though, just sits behind the feature.
DeleteShame you didn´t get any hatchlings, but great you have adults in your garden, they do keep the pests down xcx
ReplyDeleteThey do. Even when they're not in the pond they can usually be found in the flower border so I'm sure they're having their fill on the slugs which can be found there.
DeleteAwesome pictures. I grew up on a lake and we had frogs galore. My dad always said they were great to keep down the bug population.
ReplyDeletexxx
Thank you. I love having frogs in the garden as they eat all the slugs. They're definitely the gardener's friend.
DeleteGreat pictures Jo, I can remember many years ago, our neighbours had a pond with plenty of frogs and they used to love hopping over to our garden and sheltering in the flower border.
ReplyDeleteWe always took extra care ...
All the best Jan
Thank you. We had frogs long before we put the pond in but they hang around here now whereas we'd see them infrequently then. I think someone must have a pond somewhere close by.
DeleteWhat a shame about the frogspawn but at least you have visiting frogs. Our old house had a big pond that attracted lots of frogs. Quite often they managed to get into our neighbour's cellar (never ours) which was a nuisance for them- I think the frogs liked the coolness down there!
ReplyDeleteI remember as a child, my friend had an old air raid shelter in her garden which was absolutely filled with frogs, I think you're probably right about them liking cool places.
DeleteShae the spawn didn't make it :( great that others visit though, i adore frogs :) we're hoping to have a pond eventually :) xx
ReplyDeleteI can definitely recommend having a pond in the garden, even my tiny one gives me hours of pleasure. It's such fun watching the wildlife it attracts.
DeleteThat is too bad, I wonder who is eating them up before they can grow?
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Meredith
The frogspawn could have fallen prey to many number of things, such a shame.
DeleteSorry your frogspawn didn't survive, Jo. Ours disappeared this year too. We think the koi fish ate the eggs. But we have lots of frogs. They are so much fun. P. x
ReplyDeleteFish will definitely eat frogspawn so I'm sure that's what will have happened to yours. It's good that we both have frogs in the garden though, I could watch them for hours.
DeleteI bet it got eaten if you have lots of other visitors. We tried and the same thing happen in our pond seems you can't have everything!
ReplyDeleteIt did seem to hang around for a long time before slowly disappearing so I'm not really sure what happened to it. I just don't think we're meant to have tadpoles for one reason or another.
DeleteWhat a shame! I loved your froggy pics, what a handsome chappie! I have two ponds, they frogs always spawn in the tiny one in full sun. The tadpoles always hatch too. Having said that it took years....here's to you getting tadpoles one day.xxx
ReplyDeleteThere's hope for me yet then. It would be nice to have some tadpoles in the little pond though I'm very happy that it does entice frogs in to the garden anyway.
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