Back home, I'm beginning to wonder whether we will see any frog spawn this year.
I wrote that late last night. Early this morning the frogs had responded. A small clump of spawn appeared in the pond. By this evening it had become a sizeable clump. Nice work, frogs. Nice work!
Spawn is obviously a precious commodity in a pond. The frogs do their best to defend it from attack, standing guard and croaking loudly.
The danger though is often from below. The newts are like kids in a candy store.
Some newts have no shame at all and immerse themselves in the nutritious abundance. This, by the way, is not always a wise move on the part of the newt. They do sometimes become entombed, providing a ready source of food for the emergent hungry tadpoles. But this one seemed ok. For now!
I really need to dig out the ring-flash to get decent close-ups, but for now this will have to do. 
As for what happens next, here's a sequence I prepared earlier 😉 – the full frog spawn development cycle from 3 years ago.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.
11 Comments
Words, wow, that's really cool. I guess they must have heard you! Are the different colours of the eggs indicative of different layers?
Love those macro shots sequence! Wow!
Very interesting! I'm curious about eh colours too. Looks like you'll have a wonderful frog chorus this year!
Robin, despite some searching I can't find any useful information on the colour variations, but generally we've had reddish or black clumps in the past and those were different frogs. It tends to all clump together once laid. The flash tends to emphasise the colour differences, as does the surrounding weed.
Lois, we've far fewer frogs than usual which I suspect is to do with the harsh winter. I'm delighted to have any spawn this year, and the newts are thriving as ever.
Thanks Groovy!
Erwin, I'm always fascinated by how the pond changes through the year, but I think spawning is my favourite time to watch it.
Such drama in a garden pond! Excellent closeups as always! 🙂
Adele, it helps while away the time when waiting for foxes!
Interesting
Yes It Is.. still a very interesting time to see and take lovely Pict :up: