lousmith

Hi Maxxi, I reckon the critter on the nasturtium is a hover-fly(one pair of wings),which tend to be active on warmer days and don't really have a home to go to, so anywhere is good for a quick nap. Think the other one is a honey bee, maybe bucking the trend.

I saw the very thing on you tube here: An adult rat is obviously more of a challenge and the outcome is touch and go. I won't spoil the end. Pelican eats pigeon is worth a watch too.

how big are they? last year's frogs will be still pretty small like a monkey nut or smaller. The hot weather will bring them to water. They won't be ready to breed for a few years yet.Still got your plant trays btw, can't remember your house no. I'll drop them off if you pm me. On the subject of sparrows, i've got a cheeky pair who patrol the pond plants looking for the delicate newly emerged damsel and dragonflies for their brood. They,re really deadly at it, not at all afraid to tread water whilst intently looking, They even take the mature ones on the wing. I'm pleased to see them, but they are cheeky!

Goldfinches seem to be on the up, unless we're all seeing the same pair.

I too went away for a week and found a decimation of frogspawn. There was a bit on the side of the pond. I blame the magpies!

Hi Sue. Try and get it back to the top. The plants I gave you should float and support it. You can get some more weed if you need. It will hatch at the bottom, but may be much slower without the sun's warmth. You could even hatch it indoors in a big enough jar?or ?ub.

Usually the spawn underneath survives. a really hard frost for a lengthy period will do for it though. Lets hope it doesn't happen. Motile taddies will survive as they will just swim down.

You'll have to wait a few more years for them to come back to spawn... about another three. You're welcome to collect some spawn when you want. The spawning will be over soon, so hurry if you want to see the phenomenon.

Yup! loads already, I counted about 40 clumps yesterday. Got some of it in the nursery tanks to hothouse the little tads. I'll keep you posted.

.....still going on!

Thanks nynamehere. the pond is self regulating, no flow-through, quite deep, which I think helps. I do get a smattering of blanket weed when the weather gets warmer, but not long-lasting. Lots of duckweed though. I think its a suicidal wasp that nearly gets eaten...it did eventually get eaten. They're usually a bit smarter than that. Glad to hear they're around in good numbers.

The lovely spring weather has brought the frogs to a frothy spawning frenzy in my garden pond...about a week later than usual, but making up for lost time. Made a little film of it

Chaffinch doing a rain call? bizarre though it sounds Thrush song usually varied and beautiful.

They're pretty intrepid those froglets!

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Re tadpole cannIbalism. I doubt they killed it themselves, but they're definitely not letting it go to waste! If you look closely at the far left taddy, just above the tip of the poor dead taddie's tail, you can see the tiny bones of the newly emerging leg, looking like an X-ray. Keeping our eyes peeled for the lesser spotted flapjackdavius. Please find attached a far cuter image, more suitable for a Sunday morning.

Mine love left-over cooked chicken. Tadpoles have definitely carnivorous if not cannibalistic tendencies after they have sprouted their back legs. Frogs are of course exclusively carnivorous. Just chuck it in. you could try string. Rhey love a scrum! a thumb sized piece of chicken will heave in all directions and be gone by morning. The tadgers develop very quickly with the high protein diet.

Sorry to hear that Sue, Some cats may take tadpoles, though I doubt most would bother, I've never seen robins doing it, but I'm sure they would be a tasty treat for a brooding robin, What I have seen apart from ducks decimating frogspawn, is mangy magpies and also crows are very adept at hopping up to the edge and very accurately dispatching a good many at one sitting. Nature allows for about 0.1 % of tadpoles to reach adulthood, so the odds are heavily stacked against them. After bouts of predation, the remainder do seem to get a bit more savvy amd are harder to spot subsequently. May be the case. Try enticing them out with some chicken!

There's nothing to stop you doing either of the above, the fountain will keep the stones wet too and provide a cool shelter for the emergent froglets.They only work in direct bright sunshine I think. Some oxygenating and shade-giving weeds would help with the stagnancy. Most small ponds will need a top-up or several throughout the year as there is no additional catchment to drain into it unless you can rig a cunning system from your guttering.

Hooray for taddies! The Anuran revolution is here.

Just saw a handsome, but pesky Magpie flying on to my roof with an adult Robin hanging lifeless from its beak. Didn't see whether it had killed it or not, but it shocked me as I thought they only took baby and fledgeling birds.

Hurrah! for coal tits. See quite a few long-tailed tits in mine, and the occasional sparrow hawk, wheedling around Dawson heights.

Hi fatfightersforever, I can sort out a couple of modest native 'seed' plants which will proliferate and be beneficial (good for newt egg laying) PM me if you are interestewd. Lou interest-ed

Hi Sue, I think it does hatch. albeit slowly. I guess you've got a couple of weeks before they are out of their jello, depending on temperature to some extent. I'd spread out the digging over two or three days, doing I guess a spade depth per day. I always find if I wait til I feel like I've exerted myself digging, then its too late and I'm gonna feel stiff for a few days. I've got a pickaxe if the going gets tough. Chances are as I mentioned earlier you're going to get an inpenetrable green soup for a while, while things get established. I can give you a 'seed' of primordial mud which will contain a load of good stuff (like probiotics) and a sprig of oxygenating weed. If you want a Lily you will need a dwarf variety so as not to take over, that will be the only real expense. I'm pretty sure Marsden Road nature reserve still has a small selection of indigenous aquatics you can pick up for a donation. Tadpoles will pretty much cope with all the changes, though not overly warm or polluted water as it contains too little oxygen. I mentioned getting a Lily as it will shade the water in an attractive way, but duckweed is just as effective. If you take a while, you can always pick up the tadpoles. Lou

Pleasure Sue, nice to meet a fellow amphibophile! x