Nice to see the frogs back

[diawl bach]

Noticed a couple of frogs had made it back to the pond tonight, always a welcome sight. They're a vocal lot and we hear them from around March onwards when it warms up a little.

I've learned to recognise their distress calls, cats are a real menace round here despite the cover planted and built in around the water.

It's an insoluble problem which makes it all the better when the first couple of swirls on the surface stop me in my tracks as I dodge the rain coming back from the shed for coal, a sure sign spring's on its way.

 

[ant77]

A lovely image DB! Do you think the exceptionally mild Winter (in all honesty I can barely remember seeing my breath, and I certainly haven't shivered for any length of time) will have an adverse effect on nature's cycles? I did hear summink a couple of weeks ago which suggested that the danger of plants and animals getting giddy so early was that juveniles and fledglings might get caught out in Spring frosts (with obvious knock-on implications). (Sorry to be a miserable basstad!)

 

[bibio1st]

I've not noticed any in our pond yet, it's generally towards the middle/end of February we hear them, since a heron cleared the few fish we had, the newts are thriving also.

Steve

 

[diawl bach]

I think its just another mild winter Ant, nothing unusual there, but you're right, there has been a significant lack of huff lately.

Re predation of pond fish, we've lost all of our fish to cats beginning with the epic loss of half a dozen or so goldfish we were minding for a friend while they were away to save feeding them in their tank at the house. We thought putting a piece of steel reinforcing grid would stop the cat thing but it didn't and it looked awful, it's only frogs in there now.

One positive with herons, they don't add insult to injury by "returning them " to the lawn...

Its 52 deg F today in Cardiff and the lizards are sunning themselves on the patio.

 

[diawl bach]

I'm delighted and a little concerned to see that the frogs have spawned. It might be best to take the spawn in if the weather gets colder - or is that interfering with Nature I wonder.

 

[ant77]

**** Nature, SAVE THE FROGLETS!

 

[diawl bach]

I'll take them in if there's a frost warning but it does fly in the face of natural selection. There's a hatchery analogy floating around the periphery of this scenario.....

 

[ant77]

As long as you're going to eat the adults, I think that's fine

 

[Sunkistbob-SKB]

I once reared a pair of American Bullfrogs to a reasonable size from tadpoles (illegally) imported by a garden centre with some Koi from Florida.

There were five tadpoles in all but the first two that metamorphosed ate the others as they struggled from the water onto land for the first time.

The racket they made was deafening at night and a couple of months after losing their tails, having been fed a diet of woodlice and mealworms, were capable of eating a sizeable live locust purchased from the pet shop. Watching them crush the relatively large insects alive with their eye sockets was quite something. :thumbs:

When they became unmanageable I had the RSPCA round who said they placed them at London Zoo.

 

[Acid House]

Well I cant wait for um to play Ireland next week. Then it'll be all over and they'll disappear again.

 

[diawl bach]

Well I cant wait for um to play Ireland next week. Then it'll be all over and they'll disappear again.

Excellent!

Well, another year another frog fest.

I heard them earlier this evening and popped out to take a look after hearing croaking through the patio doors a few minutes ago. Four of them are flopping around the patio and another four are at it in the pond. Not the first time I've seen them in January but it's unusual and not a great time of year for spawning although we do have 9 Centigrade on the outdoor thermometer currently. Hope they aren't doomed when normal temps resume.

While I'm on the subject I've recently discovered we have a feral population of Xenopus frogs in a local river, they're odd looking things which I've yet to see outside a lab, they used to be used for pregnancy testing, presumably this lot are escapees.

 

[BRUCE1]

While I'm on the subject I've recently discovered we have a feral population of Xenopus frogs in a local river, they're odd looking things which I've yet to see outside a lab, they used to be used for pregnancy testing, presumably this lot are escapees.

African Clawed Frog
some Tw'at will of dumped them having them as a pet then not wanting them,oh I know I cant kill them I will dump them in the river,its people like that ,that need killing waste of space bloody oxygen thieves,no consideration or thought for the local,countrywide flora and fauna



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI9-iFlkGy8

 

[diawl bach]

Well put Bruce, they're not just a benign addition to our local wildlife but rather a disease carrying invader.

This non native frog carries a fungus - Batrachochytrium dendrobati (bd) responsible for the disease chytridiomycosis which has contributed to the extinction of 200 species of frog across the planet. LINK.

According to this article "in terms of its effect on biodiversity, chytridiomycosis is quite possibly the worst disease in recorded history." but others see it as a factor in "the attack of the killer everything" LINK a term which applies to fish and invertebrates as readily as it does to amphibians.

The tiny pond we have is an example of how important habitat is, it's about three quarter of a metre square but supports a population of a couple of dozen frogs from my reckoning and it's right in the centre of the city. By allotting a tiny part of the garden to water we get a great return from nature, I'd recommend it to anyone, these urban oases might just hold the key to safeguarding part of our natural heritage.

 

[benjammin]

You may be interested in an article I wrote for our North Wales Koi Society newsletter back in November, issue 12. It was on this very subject.
I had over 50 lots of frogspawn in my ponds last year as well as toadspawn and efts from all three newt varieties. I'm priveleged to have Great Crested newts breed in my wildlife ponds as well as Smooth Newt and Palmate Newt, I live in an area where they proliferate.
I discovered that the Chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is actually treatable along with C salamandrivorans.
Chytrid fungus has been recorded here in North Wales at Talacre for a few years now.

 

[diawl bach]

The frogs turned up in the pond in mid January but they finally got round to it last night, there are two batches of spawn this morning. Pretty regular guys these frogs.

 

[diawl bach]

I'm sad to say that not one frog arrived in the pond this spring or throughout the year.
We've seen them as early as December before however it looks like the pond's going to remain empty for an entire year in 2017. We've had over twenty adult frogs in the garden before and had to clear the lawn of them prior to cutting so to witness their total disappearance is quite a blow, they made a welcome addition to a city's green space.

The reason for the decline is cats, they've had the lot and this is despite having fitted chicken wire to the trellis which surrounds the garden to keep the little b@stards out, it's a real shame and an impact which cat owners and legislators never seem to acknowledge, cats are free to roam and wildlife suffers the consequences.

 

[guest54]

I'm sad to say that not one frog arrived in the pond this spring or throughout the year.
We've seen them as early as December before however it looks like the pond's going to remain empty for an entire year in 2017. We've had over twenty adult frogs in the garden before and had to clear the lawn of them prior to cutting so to witness their total disappearance is quite a blow, they made a welcome addition to a city's green space.

The reason for the decline is cats, they've had the lot and this is despite having fitted chicken wire to the trellis which surrounds the garden to keep the little b@stards out, it's a real shame and an impact which cat owners and legislators never seem to acknowledge, cats are free to roam and wildlife suffers the consequences.

In the case of the newts that used to visit my pond, they all seemed to be infected with a fungus and died off very quickly, not seen one for two years.

 

[diawl bach]

Pleasantly surprised to see a solitary dollop of frog spawn in the pond on 10th March. We've split it in half leaving some in the pond and brought the rest indoors with a view to bringing a good number through to the point where they can be released to hop around the garden.

Hope some intensive rearing will reverse the crash in numbers we saw last year, having a chorus of frogs singing after summer showers was a rich part of our lives which we miss and will miss this year, with luck it'll be restored for 2019.

 

[Dingbat]

There is a road on the my way to work where the frogs cross, they have dug ditches and go and collect them every morning and carry them across in buckets. Near my fil's place they close off the road for six weeks.

 

[bibio1st]

No signs here yet though have had spawn early March some years, my sister in France had spawn in their pond about 5 weeks ago. I will be putting a new pond pump next week as the one we've had for 25 years has finally packed up

Steve