Another grey, wet day. Typical for the time of year, but perfectly fine for the pond dwellers. So that's where I turned my attention today. It's a week since the frog spawn appeared and I wanted to see how it was developing, especially as we had a frost earlier in the week which left a thin layer of ice over the pond surface.
Despite the volume of spawn, it will eventually only produce a small number of mature frogs. Some of the spawn will fail to develop, and only a proportion of the tadpoles that do emerge will make it through to metamorphosis. And even then the young froglets face more dangers. But all that is some months ahead. For the moment they are immobile… and nutritious.
The newts will limit the numbers that survive, but won't cause any major reduction in population. The frogs meanwhile are off hunting for their own food.
On a separate note, the old dog fox was around last night and it seems his eye problem is improving. There's still some gunk around the eye, but it was more open than earlier in the week and he's clearly not remotely concerned by it! 
Camera note: all shots were photographed with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens. I used the full set of extension tubes and ring flash for the two macros of the spawn.
BitzyMe
9 Mar 2008Old Dog Fox.. it does look better! Good!
Vulpes vulpes
9 Mar 2008😎
Mickeyjoe-Irl
9 Mar 2008It is good news :up:
CedarFox
9 Mar 2008:up:
UrbanExtension
9 Mar 2008Wow! Never seen such close up views of frog spawn. Fascinating. Love it! How long have you had your pond? did it take a long time for the newts and frogs to appear? What else do you get on it. Dragonflies? loads of other insects? Is it very big… sorry about all the questions. I'm really considering digging one myself! Just need to convince the other half… Jane
Words
9 Mar 2008Eric :cheers:
Words
9 Mar 2008Mickeyjoe, yes it's always a relief when they recover on their own (which to be fair is most of the time!)
Words
9 Mar 2008Vulpes :cheers:
Words
9 Mar 2008Bitzy, I'm sure that his eye will always be a bit prone to problems, but nothing too serious it seems.
Words
9 Mar 2008Jane, it's the first time I've had the gear to try shots like that. I'm fascinated to see the morphing into a tadpole beginning to take place. The pond was here when we moved in some years ago. It was filled with fish, which we got re-homed and we let it get a bit more wild. The frogs were visiting almost immediately (I'm sure they'd already been using it anyway), and the newt colony has got larger over time. They've probably migrated from other local ponds. We get red and blue damselfly, but not many of the larger varieties, although I've seen migrant hawkers in the garden. And lots of smaller insects.
The pond itself is a pre-fab job (quite sturdy), about 10 foot long and fairly narrow. Deep (3ft approx) at one end, shallow at the other. Well worth getting to help attract wildlife. The foxes drink from it, but it's not great for hedgehogs as the sides are a bit steep. I need to create some sort of exit point.
SittingFox
9 Mar 2008It's really intriguing to watch the spawn develop! Fascinating post – almost looks like you have a miniature Serengeti in there! 😀
Words
10 Mar 2008Yes it's certainly a great micro world. 😀
Flying Red Fox Blog
11 Mar 2008Very interesting post:D I dont think i have seen a pond with a nice population of Newst and Frogs.:)
Words
11 Mar 2008Studio41, LOL! It might work 😉
studio41
11 Mar 2008I wonder if I soak my leftover coffeebeans long enough– will they metamorphosize, too?
Words
11 Mar 2008Mark, thanks. The newts have really come into their own this past couple of years. they seem to do very well there.