Looking for Frogspawn at Felixstowe

We took a short trip to the Landguard end of Felixstowe on Saturday afternoon to see if we could find any frogspawn. This area is monitored closely for wildlife by the Landguard Bird Observatory.

The weather was very grey, but mild. There were one or two rabbits in the scrub that fronts the container park for the port.



The photo above shows the backdrop. If you turn round, you can almost see the sea.

It only takes a few minutes to reach the pond. It seemed smaller than we remembered.

There was a lot of weed so it was difficult to distinguish one form of life from another.

I darkened my photo once I was home to see if a bit more contrast revealed anything further. What can you see?

The photo above shows the pond... and the one below shows two insects. I thought they might be a kind of water beetle but on enlarging the photo a bit, it is clear that they are a species of fly.

We may return in a few weeks. The photo below shows a scene from the same pond, taken on 10 March 2014...

If you come across clumps of frog spawn, do consider recording them here on the 2019 PondNet Survey.

Seasonal First: Frogspawn in Sudbury

I have been keeping a sharp eye out for my first frogspawn of 2017, and was finally rewarded yesterday afternoon on the meadows bordering the River Stour in Sudbury. The clump had gathered a fair amount of plant material, but despite the bits of weed and reed, the embryo tadpoles were clearly visible. 

I have logged the sighting here (#SpawnSurvey). 

This part of the town was looking particularly lovely with Mallards in the water, a Willow coming into leaf and plenty of Daffodils on the bank.

• I had a hunch I was a bit late this year. This link will take you to spawn I saw in Felixstowe in 2014, much earlier in March...

More Frogspawn at Felixstowe

We went looking for spawn at Felixstowe over the weekend, and as you can see, it was still there. I am wondering what the difference is between the two clumps in the picture above. Please leave a comment if you can enlighten me. Is it just a matter of age? Incidentally, I have just joined iSpot so thank you to those who suggested that I might like to do this. It is taking me a little while to find my way around.

The photo below suggests to me that it will not be too long before we are past the spawning stage ...

Frogspawn in Felixstowe - our first sighting in 2016

David took these photographs of frogspawn in Felixstowe yesterday. This is a first sighting for us in 2016.

Fair Acre Press have been running the Maligned Species project, and frogs are one of the four species that constitute the project.

You can buy the Fair Acre eBook of poetry about frogs here.

You can listen to the Fair Acre podcast on the Common Frog here.

Amphibian Alert ~ Frogs Galore

N.B. My 'Tree Following 2014' post is HERE. The Loose and Leafy page about the project is HERE.

After a tip-off from the Landguard Bird Observatory, we went in search of frogs. I failed to see an amphibian at all last year, but this sighting more than made up for that fact.

This marshy area was apparently part of Horse Shoe Creek up until 1867 when it was brought into use by HM War Department for rifle practice. The pond was dug in 1993 and is now a haven for wildlife.

We counted 73 Common Frogs, and there were probably more in among the spawn and the weed. Leeches, Hemiclepsis marginata, were noted in the pond back in 2011. 

Frogs tend to emerge from hibernation in late February. The females spawn almost immediately. 

There are frequently 300-400 eggs in a clump! 

Spawn was noted here from 29 March in 2013, so our milder winter has brought things forward. 

The pond is part of a Nature Reserve, designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the rarity of vegetated shingle habitat nearby. 

I was fascinated by the lighter colour of the frog on the left. The sunlight was low and it was hard to get a crisp photo. Females tend to be a lighter colour than than the males, though frogs have a certain ability to change the tone of their skin to match the light or shade of their environment. Common Frogs come in a surprising range of shades, stripes and speckles.

Common frogs can live up to eight years.

Females tend to be larger than their mates.

Female frogs begin producing spawn once they reach their third year. 

The photo above shows the wide windswept beach at Felixstowe's Landguard Point.

 And finally ... a photo showing conservation work in action, protecting the habitat of the rare Stinking Goosefoot.