Love is in the air

It's that time of the year again when the pond starts to fill up with new life.  The sound of amorous frogs (Rana temporaria) is quite amusingly loud, especially in the evenings, and whereas the rest of the garden still looks rather drab and uninviting with few blossoms and leaves, the pond is quite green and springing (haha literally!) into life. Sadly few of the many frogspawn survive to full adulthood, this is presumably why the frogs invest so much into producing so many offspring.

The common frog is usually more active at night, though it can be seen during the day too. They become sexually mature at about 3 years old. During February and March the frogs emerge from hibernation and journey to their chosen breeding pond. They have been known to return to the same breeding ground each year.

The male frogs usually reach the breeding ponds before the females, and they attempt the attract a female frog by making a low purring croaking sound, like this:

A successful male will wrap his forelimbs around the female in a mating embrace known as 'amplexus'.  Each female lays 1000-4000 eggs at a time, which are fertilised by the male as they are released.

The frogspawn is encased in a jelly-like substance which protects the little embryos. Depending on the  weather conditions, two to four weeks later the tadpoles will hatch out.

After around 16 weeks the tadpoles start to grow back legs, followed by front legs. When they have fully absorbed their tails they leave the water as tiny froglets, usually in early summer but sometimes as late as September. I for one can't wait to follow their progress this year!
Frogs are a great natural slug deterrent - every gardener should favour a few of these hopping about the borders. Do you have frogs in your garden?

Perhaps you'd like to help with the Million Ponds Project? This Project will create an extensive network of new ponds across the UK. Ultimately the aim is to reverse a century of pond loss, ensuring that once again the UK has over one million countryside ponds. For more information go to the Pond Conservation website.

In the meantime, enjoy one of nature's spring marvels!