On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 23:18:53 +0000, MadCow wrote
(in article ):

In message et, Sally
Thompson writes

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.

My tiny pond (in Reading) could easily freeze over in March, but some
frog has laid a huge mass of spawn in a shallow place, with some of the
spawn sticking up above water level.

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

I'd like newts. Would they be able to survive in small suburban gardens
if I could get some spawn?



My understanding (and gut feeling) is that if the conditions are right, the
newts will come (same with the frogs). We did not introduce them, they just
arrived, and we were of course thrilled when we first saw them. They have
multiplied since so presumably they are happy there. This pond is only three
years old, so my best suggestion is to try to make a newt-friendly
environment for them. My son had an absolutely minute pond in South London,
and he had frogs in it which appeared from nowhere - so they do find homes in
unlikely places.




--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
bed and breakfast near Ludlow: http://www.stonybrook-ludlow.co.uk
Burne-Jones/William Morris window in Shropshire church:
http://www.whitton-stmarys.org.uk