The Frog and Pond Diary |
April - 2001 |
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I thought that the above would be my diary entry for the day until about 9.45pm when I went down the garden to check the pond. I was treated to a sight that I have never witnessed before, a female newt in the process of egg laying.. This first picture (left) shows
her inverted at the water surface. The close-up (right) shows her hind feet wrapped around the leaf under which the egg is being attached.
I took several photographs
of her. In this image you can see the egg in the fold of the
leaf between her feet.
2nd April - Today the sunshine for most of the day brought out the frogs. It is curious how in the big pond they remain in the water, mostly under cover of the vegetation. In the small pond they climb out onto the bank and sunbathe quite openly and often in groups. I have seen 'clumps' of more that 15 frogs there in the past. Here is a picture of a newt's egg within a folded leaf. The egg itself is about 2mm in diameter with a layer of jelly around it.
Other creatures are starting to appear in the pond now. I saw the first pond skaters of the year and I caught a glimpse of what might have been a saucer bug, just over 1cm long. No picture I am afraid - it crash-dived as soon as I approached.
The serrated crest, along with the absence of webbed rear feet in the male indicates that they are Smooth Newts. I was interested to see the differences in the feet between male and female, with the male having much larger, thicker digits on the hind feet and longer, slender digits on the front feet. However, I do not know if these are general characteristics or just differences between these individuals
7th April - There will be no updates to the diary for the next 8 - 10 days.
This photograph shows some of the tadpoles previously pictured on 28 March and 3 April. They are now around 18mm long and the external gills have disappeared.
23rd April - I have been neglecting the pond over the last few days. The tadpoles are now swarming all over the pond but I did not see any frogs or newts in the day today. Not even the sunshine could tempt the frogs into sunbathing mode. The pond plants are growing fast, but it is good to see how clear the water is. A quick check of the pond at 10.15pm revealed 15 frogs around the edges, several newts that looked as though they were stalking tadpoles. The tadpoles look every bit as active now as they did in the daytime.
This evening I noticed how well the Liverworts at the base of the log are doing. This photograph shows a portion of one of the liverworts ( Marchantia polymorpha - I think). I must find out more about their life cycle and take some more detailed photographs. Last night when I walked down the garden there were a couple of dozen frogs in the big pond, as well as some out on the grass. Tonight, after all today's rain I shall have another look to see if any newts are venturing out. Tomorrow I must check on the progress of their eggs. |
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