We have Frogspawn in our Office Pond – Exciting News

By |2024-05-06T09:24:00+01:00March 22nd, 2020|Animal News Stories, Main Page, Photos|0 Comments

Frogspawn Laid on 19th March (2020)

These might be challenging times for us humans (Homo sapiens), what with all the concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, but at least for some animals it is business as usual.  We have frogspawn in our office pond!  The first eggs were laid in the early morning of the 19th March.  We normally have frogspawn around the third week of March in our part of the world, the date of laying can vary by a couple of weeks, depending on the weather and the type of winter we have had.  However, the spawning usually takes place around this time of year (third week of March).

Frogspawn is Spotted

The First Frogspawn Spotted in the Office Pond Early on the 19th March 2020

Frogspawn in the office pond at Everything Dinosaur (March 19th 2020).
The first batch of frogspawn laid in the office pond (March 19th 2020).  The photograph was taken a few minutes after 8am in the morning.  From the size of the frogspawn we think that these are the eggs from a single female and that they had only just been laid. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

We have counted a total of seven frogs in the pond, the majority were males.  We tend to have the males arriving first and the females taking up residence a little time later (after all, the females tend to be pounced upon as soon as they enter the pond).  The frogs are all Common frogs (Rana temporaria), their name is a bit of a misnomer these days, as like many amphibians, they are becoming increasingly rare.

More Frogspawn was Laid that Morning (March 19th 2020)

Frogspawn spotted in the office pond - March 19th 2020.
More frogspawn laid on the morning of 19th March 2020.  Team members at Everything Dinosaur estimate that the egg masses represent the eggs from two or three females.  We shall continue to carefully monitor the pond (taking care not to disturb the frogs too much), to see if more eggs will be laid. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

As we cope with the current restrictions on our lives due to the coronavirus crisis, we will be able to observe how the tadpoles are getting on – something for us to think about in these challenging times.  At least the frogs are behaving as normal, for them at least, it is business as usual.

The Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.