On 24/2/07 20:34, in article
, "Sally Thompson"
wrote:


Saw our first frogspawn of the year today - two weeks earlier than usual
(last year was on 11th March). I think this is very early for this part of
the country. We went out just now with the torch and the big pond is teeming
with frogs. Quite lifts the heart.

Also newts already in the pond, which seems early to us although we haven't
kept a record of dates of those.

Mind you, they don't really need the pond since the ground is so incredibly
waterlogged it's difficult to walk on at the moment. They could just bask in
the puddles.



I'm beginning to think we have toads with some kind of problem. They
arrived a while ago, we've had so much wet and mild weather that we're all
going rusty but there is NO spawn to be seen in our ponds. However, when we
went to Salcombe the pond was heaving with the stuff. It is always late in
our pond, however early the toads are. There must be something they know,
that we don't, about our pond/weather/water/prevailing conditions.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)