I was going to stop writing until I could see the tadpoles’ back legs appearing, but this morning I spotted something I hadn’t seen before in the pond: backswimmers. I also took some close ups of some tadpoles that show the shape of a frog developing quite clearly (which gives me hope that legs will appear soon). And finally, on such a sunny day, I thought I’d add a few pictures of the pool now the forget-me-not is in full bloom.
The new insect is a backswimmer or Water Boatman, so called because it actually swims through the water on its back. This seems to be a good way to capture its prey. It senses vibrations when something nearby disturbs the water and pounces, stabbing it and sucking out the contents.* Nice.
The insects like tadpole for lunch apparently but, from what I could see, the tadpoles weren’t avoiding them, so I’m not convinced. Here are some clips so you can see what I mean. There’s a clip of resting water fleas too; interesting because you can see their internal organs in action.
As mentioned, I also took some close up still shots of tadpoles and picked out a few to share which clearly show them developing the shape of a frog. Notice the raised eyes which are starting to look frog-like and the broadening haunches that seem to show where the legs will appear. You can also see the relative sizes of tadpole and backswimmers.
And finally today, a wider view of the pond in the garden from different angles. The pond gets quite a lot of sunlight at this time of year. In a month’s time it will be much shadier as the leaves develop on the fig tree (against the wall) and the tall beech tree (the aerial shot is taken from the tree house).
*This information comes from the Cumbria Wildlife Trust website at https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bugs/common-backswimmer
FROG BLOG 