I was a little concerned to fish out half a dozen dead frogs recently - I’ve only ever seen the odd one or two per year before - but the ponds are absolutely churning in this recent warmth. At least 20 heads sticking up, maybe more, and then a mad panic when they see me…gobs of frogspawn too.
Our garden pond is now officially a duck pond! We've seen ducks there occasionally in the past, but it's only small and we didn't think they were actually settled there. Today there's a fat mallard on 3(?) eggs partially hidden in vegetation round the back.
Maybe there won't be so many tadpoles this summer then!
Mine, during and after some extensive frost damage repairs in the brickwork.
Had a couple of frogs last year, but no sign this year so far.
I've been neglecting mine for a couple of years due to the arrival of a baby wot don't sleep... Starting to try and get back on top of it. Sadly fish all lost to a heron but the good thing is I now have an abundance of insects etc that were lacking before.
Very happy to see this today
Our first red damselfly. She’s laying eggs. I’ve been chasing the ducks off as much as possible, otherwise they gobble up all pond life.
My pond is about 4" down on water level - praying for a deluge this weekend!! 🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️
We've had a lot of red damselflies which I don't really remember so much from before, maybe it's a good year for them.
Had to fill my pond up with a hose a couple of weeks ago (after I'd been away for a while), it was in dire straits and a few marginal plants have probably died. Plenty of other life and the tadpoles are already getting legs.
Yes the pond is very low, probably by 14 cm.
Our 2 water butts ran out the other night. Only had half an hours worth of rain since the 19th of April.
Expecting rain this weekend.
I don't think the occupant was entirely happy so transferred to an easier to exit wet place. Also the cat was not impressed with the invasion into her waterbowl!
Any frogs yet, mate just found some whilst working, so must be mild enough, must check pond tomorrow.
You have read my mind. I saw lots of splashing on Monday morning, nipped out to see 2 pairs of frogs and lots of fresh spawn.
Very exciting. Just need to make sure we keep the Mallard ducks from gobbling up the tadpoles in a few weeks.
Looks like a going to be a good year for spawn. Ponds nearly full of it.
Happy days indeed
5 mins doing a spring clean of pond sludge.
50 mins spent fishing out dozens of snails, baby snail goo and critters and lobbing back in so they can live and - eat pond sludge. It’s a balancing act for sure.
Still only insect life in my pond after two years!! ☹️
Loads of pond skaters, water boatmen, other insect things, dragonflies, snails, plantlife etc - but no frogs or toads! I've seen the beggars in my garden too. Easy access in and out. 🤷♂️
I watch Gardeners World - someone plants up a Belfast sink and within weeks it's like a natural history programme happening in there! 🤣
I was surprised and delighted to spot a load of wrigglers in my micro pond over the weekend, after peering in hopefully for aaaages!
Ooh, it’s busy in there today! 🙂
https://bsky.app/profile/darwendashers.bsky.social/post/3mm2lvr3lek2l
I too have set up a 'washing up bowl' pond by the back door. Lots of things going on in there already. Love it.
So that's where all the tadpoles have gone 😀 My little pond at the bottom of the garden has always been a haven for frogs and is usually full of tadpoles by now, but for some reason they haven't appeared this year. We had a few days back in March when there was lots of frog activity. More than a dozen of them in the little pond and you could hear the croaking at night from all over the garden. But it only resulted in a small clump of spawn which then disappeared over a few days and I've not actually spotted any tadpoles this year.
Not really sure why. Could be that we had so many tadpoles last year that it caused a growth in the newt population who have eaten them all this year. Anyway, good to know it's not a national decline.
Our pond is looking quite good after the recent heavy rain
I took some of my tads out for an inspection tonight. https://bsky.app/profile/darwendashers.bsky.social/post/3mmucwc67fs26
