So on the 8th March we witnessed the action, if not the actual spawning. The result was seven or eight large clumps in Tiny Pond. And on Friday 14th March a clump arrived in Lily Pond, watched over by the metal heron.
Cut to Tuesday 18th March and we can see the individual tadpoles beginning to develop within their protective bubbles. Some clumps are a little further on in their development, probably reflecting the actual day they appear and possibly also reflecting changes in the weather over the last week or so.
Seemingly uninterested in the spawn and possibly exhausted by the mating activity, I noticed that the frogs weren’t hiding as quickly as usual. Two of them seemed okay with me being nearby.
I have been checking on the spawn clumps every day and finally, yesterday, I captured the first small movements in the video clips below.
Unfortunately, in the first clip I recorded, the camera is shaking a little due to me hovering precariously, balanced on a stepping stone with hand and camera outstretched, millimetres above the water surface. I’ve include it for you though because there is some interesting detail.
FROG BLOG 