OneGuyFromBarlick

Yippee!!! I told you it wouldn't be long! Now we wait for the set-back if harder weather comes in later this week.......
Julie, always sad to see an old tree come down but if it was past its sell-by date it's a good thing.....

There has been very little activity in the pond since I reported last week, just the odd splash or bubble. This morning there were at least 20 heads poking out of the water when I went out and a cacophony of croaking!

Lovely report Wendy. I love this time of year when we see signs that the season is moving..... Catkins showering off the trees outside the Cravenside care home on the Green. Big trees, what will they be? Too big for Willows I think...

A quick check yesterday revealed a goodly amount of frogspawn but this morning was something wondrous, a bubbling cauldron of croaking. I counted the number of heads accurately and found that there were at least loads, if not shed loads of frogs heads above water - that is until Buster the Munsterlander wandered over for a look.

How's Buster getting on Julie?

Stanley wrote: ↑03 Mar 2019, 04:16 Big trees, what will they be? Too big for Willows I think...

Alder or Silver Birch perhaps?

Hi Wendy, Buster is doing fine - now. I'll post something in the pets section.

Not Birch Ian, I'll settle for Alder.

It's been a busy few days in pondland, much croaking, much frogging and a pond full of spawn.

They are having a good season up to now.....
Ian, I was thinking about those trees outside Cravenside. I wonder if originally they were planted for making clog soles?

I never did get my homing frogs. One night, when the conditions were just right, I was going to go out and collect some baby toads, until my wife warned me that the toads around here had poisonous skin. I don't know if that is right but it put me off collecting them for my garden pond. My koi carp are spawning at the moment but the fry get eaten by the big ones very quickly and I'll be lucky if any survive.

Poisonous toads..... Hmmm, I don't like the sound of them!

2020 season has commenced. Homing frogs are in our pond making friends and goodness knows what else.

That seems early!

It is early but nevertheless a welcome post! It's always the first sign of Spring on OG. Thanks Julie......

None here yet. Perhaps Julie's are immigrants having crossed the North Sea in the back of a wagon!

chinatyke wrote: ↑31 Mar 2019, 03:47 I never did get my homing frogs. One night, when the conditions were just right, I was going to go out and collect some baby toads, until my wife warned me that the toads around here had poisonous skin. I don't know if that is right but it put me off collecting them for my garden pond. My koi carp are spawning at the moment but the fry get eaten by the big ones very quickly and I'll be lucky if any survive.

Of the hundreds of baby fish from 2019, only one survived to adulthood, a red comet goldfish. We christened it Baby which became Angela Baby after the Hong Kong star who is on TV here a lot!
I'm hoping for some more this time around but this year I'm going to give them a better chance and I've made a fine-mesh enclosure net, that's if I can catch the fry before they get eaten.
I heard frogs or toads croaking one night last week so I guess we're early too.

I can still remember hearing my first bull frogs in Minnesota, they make a hell of a noise at night!

Like the ones we encountered in Canberra!

I didn't know they had them in Oz Tiz....

I assume they were bullfrogs - they were very loud and there in their hundreds but it was dark and we couldn't see them. Perhaps our Aussie friends will confirm whether they have bullfrogs or not?

Don’t know about bullfrogs in Canberra, but I do know that they have some great storms.
Just looked, Canberra does have toads , large and noisy, a real pest. Would that be what you call bullfrog in England?

No, but I suppose they might have been toads - it was after dark and we didn't see them, just heard them!

Coincidentally a neighbour has phoned me and asked if we want some frog spawn, his pond is suddenly full of it. He gave us pondweed last year when we started the pond. Naturally I said yes! Collecting on Saturday.

It is not recommended to move Frog Spawn from one pond to another due to some amphibian diseases that can be spread.

Extract fro the link provided:

"The crucial thing to note is that it is very important that you do not move spawn between ponds. Unfortunately, there are a number of amphibian diseases in the UK, such as Ranavirus and Chytrid fungus that can decimate amphibian populations and lead to local population declines."

Frog spawn season; what do you need to know?

On the other hand Tiz has a good chance of staring a new colony. I'd take the risk.....