The Frogs have Started to Spawn

After a mild and cloudy night we have arrived this morning to discover the first batch of frogspawn in the office pond.  This was probably laid in the early hours of this morning.  So far we have counted ten frogs in the pond, all are very active and we suspect that more spawn will be laid over the next few hours or so.  We will keep a careful watch on proceedings without trying to disturb our “frog-orgy” too much.

The frogs have spawned approximately a week earlier than last year, this is perhaps due to the milder winter that we have had.  Interestingly, the spawn has been located at one of the deeper parts of the pond, according to the old wives tale, when frogs spawn in deep water it is a sign that the spring is going to be very dry – not good news for East Anglia and south-east England which are already experiencing a drought.

One of the problems of spawning in deep water is that if the frog’s activity dislodges the spawn it will roll into even deeper water and disappear towards the bottom of the pond.  If this happens the spawn may be delayed in hatching as the water temperature surrounding the spawn will be that much colder.  We suspect water temperature has a significant effect on the speed of the development of the tadpoles.